Huahine and Raiatea October 13, 2004 Hello Everyone, We finally left Tahiti and have moved onward. The doctor took a look at Jim's sores and prescribed another round of antibiotics as the infection wasn't quite cleared. He also prescribed an antibiotic that came in three injections that we are to use only if the infection worsens while at sea. Since leaving Tahiti the water has been cleaner and the salt water has been very healing. We will probably not need to use the injections, but will save them for the next time! We sailed from Tahiti to Huahine last Monday afternoon. It was an overnight trip. Huahine is beautiful and has a very nice, well-marked passage between the reef and the island. We spent one day anchored outside the village of Fare but didn't pump up the dingy and go in. The next day we motored about five miles down inside the reef to a beautiful anchorage and met up with our friends Karen and Horst on the vessel Flo. There was a sunken boat right next to where we anchored that still had the propeller, anchor, steering wheel, controls, everything. We did pump up the dingy there and did some exploring on land. We were told by the caretaker, that the property on land was owned and developed by Julio Inglesis as a secluded resort. It was destroyed by a hurricane in 1998 and has since been purchased by the ex-President of French Polynesia. The building that housed the kitchens and the pool and hot tub survived, but they are abandoned and becoming part of the lush, tropical jungle that makes the property so beautiful. The pool is a lily pond. There were some large stands of bamboo on the property and with permission, we cut a nice pole that we have on deck and hope to be able to use for our spinnaker as we continue our journey downwind. After spending a couple of days there, we headed back up to the village of Fare. It turned out to be a really cute little village that almost looked like a small western town with wooden, two story buildings. There was a restaurant/bar right on the beach that served Hinanos and where we had excellent poisson cru for dinner as we watched the sun set on the anchorage. It was hard to leave the place so soon, but it is getting late in the season and we've got to move on...so on Friday, the 8th we left Huahine for Raiatea. It was a four hour trip, like going to Catalina. We used a new, smaller lure and caught a Skipjack Tuna on the way over. Just the right size for a couple of meals. Caryn and Lance brought us some sushi supplies when they visited and we made fresh sushi for dinner after we anchored. Yum, sushi made from the freshest tuna imaginable, it just can't be beat! Once inside the reef, we motored for another couple of hours until we came to the anchorage we were looking for. A couple we had met in Tahiti, John and Annie on the vessel QuiXOtic were anchored there and it was good to visit with them again. We decided to start a Turtle Club, as we are moving so slow. Cruising boats are becoming few and far between as most have moved much further on than we have by this time. On Tuesday, the 12th, we left our anchorage in Raiatea and motored to the island of Tahaa, it is inside the same reef as Raiatea and the passage was very wide and well marked. We are the only boat anchored here. We are close to the island shore, with a beautiful view of the palm-covered motus or islets that appear on the reef and we have a good view of Bora Bora in the background. We had thought of passing Bora Bora up, as our time is limited and we've heard that it is very touristy, however, now that we are seeing it so close, we just can't!...and we plan to leave for Bora Bora soon, perhaps in the morning......we'll be in touch soon. Take care of yourselves, Jim and Barb S/V SpanishStroll BoraBora October 28, 2004 Hello Everyone, We are underway. We spent three days anchored by the village of Patio on the island of Tahaa. It was a very nice, quiet little anchorage - Spanish Stroll was the only boat- and aside from a few walks into the village for shopping and to enjoy it's slow and easy pace, we did some maintenance on the boat getting ready for the upcoming passages on our way to New Zealand. Cruising is not all play! We left Tahaa on Friday the 15th and sailed to Bora Bora. We had great winds all the way and it was nice, as always, to get out on the water again. We planned to stay just a couple of days in Bora Bora but that turned into over a week. On our sail over, we were contacted via radio by a couple we had met back in the Marquesas, Dave and Betty on the vessel Sundance. Once through the passage and inside the reef we anchored off Bloody Mary's (a popular Bora Bora stop) and joined them for dinner and of course some Bloody Marys. The next few days we were hit by high winds and pouring rain which kept us pretty much in the boat. We mostly read and even watched a movie - not the Bora Bora most people dream about. Once the weather changed we were able to do some snorkeling. The water was clear and the colorful fish were sure plentiful. They were hanging around in groups waiting to be fed by the dive boat excursions. Betty had some bread for them and they just swarmed - even nibbling on Jim as he swam back to the dingy. Fortunately, they don't allow sharks or eels in Bora Bora. We spent a couple of days cruising up through the channel between the island and the reef. There were some pretty intricate spots to navigate, more so than on any of the islands we've been to so far. The channels were well marked and the obstacles too, but visibility is still crucial, and you are limited to traveling only the few hours of day when the sun is high. On Friday, we worked our way back towards the entrance and anchored out by one of the motus inside the reef. Horst and Karen on the vessel Flo sailed in from Tahaa and it was good to see them again. We had planned to leave on Saturday, but after going for one last snorkel in the morning before breaking down the dingy we decided to wait and get an early start on Sunday when we would be more rested. Our last night in Bora Bora was just beautiful. We had a nice quiet dinner on board, just the two of us. The weather was warm and balmy and with an almost full moon we could see the shadow of our boat on the white sandy bottom. The water is so clear! You just have to be there...... We awoke to rainy weather on Sunday, but decided to leave in spite. We had 20 to 25 knot winds and 10 foot seas once we got away from the island. It's not the most comfortable sailing but you can get used to it. Imagine our surprise as we were rolling along on an especially tall wave and our tiller broke off! It was pretty shocking! Fortunately, our boat is designed to round up into the wind and that slowed the boat down and we were able to keep her that way with a few sail adjustments. The going was pretty bumpy and it took about an hour to make the necessary repairs and to be back underway. Hard to believe that Jim still doesn't have any grey hair! We have left French Polynesia and are now on the way to Niue. Have to remember to take down our French courtesy flag, which is very faded and starting to unravel on the edges after over five months of flying. Thought it would be fun to make our courtesy flags as we go along. The French flag was simple in design and was not too difficult to make (sewing by hand). Niue probably isn't far enough away for the detail it requires..maybe that wasn't such a good idea! We do have about 8 or 9 more days to go so who knows..... Hope this finds everyone healthy and happy. Take care and we'll be in touch soon... Take care of yourselves, Jim and Barb S/V SpanishStroll BoraBora November 01, 2004 Hello Everyone, Hope this finds everyone doing good! We have had some excitement since we last wrote. Turns out our tiller breaking off when it did was a blessing in disguise. The following afternoon the weather turned nasty and we had strong gale force winds (40 - 45 knots) and huge seas (we estimated over 15 feet) to contend with. We had our harnesses on and rode it out in the cockpit for awhile. As the storm kept building we decided we better heave to. Even with the boat hove to, it was so heeled over on its side that water was always over the cap rail and running down the decks not to mention breaking over the boat and into the cockpit occasionally. We went so far as to hook ourselves together with our harnesses, as well as to the boat and we made contingency plans for when the boat rolled over. After a few hours of nail chewing and muscles all tensed we realized that the boat was probably going to ride it out and there was not really anything more we could do. We finally went below and secured ourselves into the settee berths and slept. We were physically and mentally exhausted. It was our worst weather experience so far. We gained even more confidence in the Spanish Stroll and boy were we ever happy that we did not have to deal with a broken tiller at that point! Took a couple of days for the seas to calm down a bit after that, but nothing more than occasional squalls have bothered us since. Every day is better and we are back to enjoying the sail. Our fishing reel is still hurting from the marlin, and it is making it hard to fish. The drag is a drag. It takes a long time to get fish to the boat, especially when they are frisky. We caught a dorado (mahi mahi) day before yesterday, but lost it right at the boat. What a disappointment!. Then we caught a barracuda and brought him on board. They are quite different than the barracuda that are caught off the California coast. They are really very big and have a wicked set of teeth. We're not sure if they're good to eat and have heard that they are not, so we released him after a photo session. Yesterday Jim caught another dorado that was approximately 45 lbs. After a long fight we finally got him on board. He was actually in the cockpit and got off the gaff hook and jumped back in the water. Fortunately, Barb still had a good hold on the rod and the hook was still set, so he was gaffed again and came on board to stay. He joined us for dinner last night (yum, yum). We only have one more bag of marlin left in the icebox and were happy to add seven bags of mahi mahi to that! We'll be sending out an invitation to a tuna in the next day or so. The weather here in the tropics seems to have become a little unstable. We had planned to be in Tonga by now and awaiting a good weather window to go to New Zealand. We have had so much fun visiting all the islands and guess we just stay everywhere a little too long. Still on McConn time. We've decided to forgo Niue and Tonga for this year since we would only be able to stop for a day or so at each place. We can start next years cruising with a passage from New Zealand to Tonga and have some time to explore. Therefore, we have altered our course for the Minerva Reefs which is more on the way to New Zealand and a good place to watch the weather for our window of opportunity. Niue was only a few days away, which was very appealing. The Minerva Reefs is about 8 to 9 days with good sailing but we'll feel better once we get there. We'll be in touch soon. Take care of yourselves, Jim and Barb S/V SpanishStroll Tonga November 13, 2004 Hello Everyone, Who knows, how the wind blows? As it turns out, we are in The Kingdom of Tonga. Another storm was headed our way as we made our way to the Minerva Reefs and we were advised by the weather guru on S/V Chameleon, David, that it would be best to alter our course and head for Tonga rather than continue on to Minerva. As we were experiencing storm like conditions, we agreed and choose the option of one day to Tonga or almost three more to Minerva. Our last day before landfall was horrendous, and it was amazing to sail through the Pahi Pass and into the beautiful and calm anchorage of Nukaolofa, Tongatapu. It was like a different world. It had been two weeks since we left Bora Bora and we needed a rest. We had over 35 knots of wind and 10 to 12 foot waves for most of the sail from Bora Bora. It was a very hard ride for the Spanish Stroll. The waves hitting her from the side reminded us of getting hit by a car, broadside. Because of the tack we were on, the port side was almost always under water and the leak we've been trying to track down was still very active. The force of the water on that tack did a number on the cap rail Cetol and some spots are bare wood. We forgot to take down our French courtesy flag and it was destroyed. Even our brand new American flag became a little frayed and as it turns out, the colors DO run! After a day of rest, we explored Nukaolofa and we really like the place. The people are all so friendly and it helps that everyone speaks English. The check in procedure is very straightforward and easy to accomplish. The cars drive on the "wrong" side of the street here in Tonga and pedestrians do NOT have the right of way. Haven't seen a crosswalk yet! It's confusing when crossing the streets, cars seem to bear down on you from all the wrong directions. The Tonga currency, Pahngas, are weak, worth about 50 cents on the dollar. A taxi downtown cost $3.00 which is $1.50 US. The cost of groceries is very high even with the exchange rate, but dinner for two is only about $20.00 ($10.00 US) and that includes a couple of beers! Our days of Hinano are over, but Tonga has a beer called Ikale, which is the "royal" beer. Very good and inexpensive. We have a new favorite restaurant called The Bill Fish. When we walk in all the waitresses call out "Hi, Jim!" They have a live band three nights a week and they do mostly American songs, some of the best country we've heard anywhere. Their wall is covered with plaques, sporting names and weights and bills from bill fish. Not many as big as the one caught on Spanish Stroll! We are spending our time here making repairs and drying out the boat. We should be ready to leave in just a few days and will do so as soon as a good weather window presents itself. We will leave from here and make the crossing straight to New Zealand and, depending on the weather, we may make a stop in Minerva Reefs. We hope this finds everyone happy, healthy and enjoying life. We will be in touch again, soon. Take care of yourselves, Jim and Barb S/V SpanishStroll Minerva Reef November 21, 2004 Hello Everyone, We left Tonga and are now anchored in Minerva Reef. We had waayy to much fun in Tonga and plan to go back after the hurricane season passes. Minerva Reef North (23 39 S 178 54 W) is really a trip. There is also Minerva Reef South. It's about 270 miles south of Tonga and 800 miles north of New Zealand, and many boats stop here to wait for a "weather window" for the next leg. The reef itself is about three miles in diameter. It has a pass about 100 yards wide and easy to enter, there are no coral heads inside so traveling inside is easy, kind of like a calm lake in the middle of the ocean. There's about a dozen boats here now most of whom we are familiar with from one place or another. It is an incredibly beautiful, but a little bit eerie, place to be. The sky and water are so many shades of blue with white clouds and so many stars at night. Today we pumped up the dingy, went to shore and walked to the outside where the surf is breaking like a regular beach. The reef is actually about six inches under water and about a third of a mile across. Standing in the middle of the ocean with the water running like a shallow river around our feet was pretty cool! We took pictures but think you have to be here to get the full effect. We plan to relax here for a couple of days then head for New Zealand. If it weren't for the weather threat we would stay a month at least, but then if there weren't a weather threat we would still be in Tonga partying. They actually had us singing karioke, those crazy Tongans! Barb is making sushi and sashimi tonight with a nice skipjack tuna she caught on the way down, hmmm good! You'd love it Shell! She's really gotten good at it, even pickling her own ginger! Well we hope everything is going good for you all. Take care of yourselves, Jim and Barb S/V SpanishStroll At Sea November 30, 2004 Hello Everyone, We are underway again...on our way to New Zealand (NZ)! So far it has been on a very calm sea with no wind to speak of and so we've had to do a lot of motoring. It's funny, after our trip from Bora Bora to Tonga was so boisterous, we thought it would be at least that and maybe even more so to NZ...guess we're lucky but we really need a little wind or it will be a record trip and we're not talking speed! We had a nice, different Thanksgiving this year. We are on the other side of the dateline now. Our Thursday was one day before the US Thursday. We celebrated a day ahead with a pot luck on the S/V Music. Not quite the traditional Thanksgiving dinner; baked ham, "stuffing", cabbage salad, rolls, sushi, sauteed escargot and pumpkin pie! Of course we all managed to eat and drink too much, that was no different. Kathy on S/V Music shared one of her family traditions with us, we all listened to Arlo Guthrie's "Alice's Restaurant" - very American. Aside from ourselves there were two other American, one British and one French couple. We all spent the Friday after recuperating and then left Minerva Reef on Saturday the 27th heading for NZ. About nine boats left the same day but once out of the reef everyone lost sight of each other as we sail (or motor) at our different paces. We get together twice a day on the ham radio to hear where everyone is and how everyone's doing. We caught a nice dorado (mahi, mahi) the second day out and several other boats have caught them since leaving also. We all stayed in Minerva Reef longer than we planned and it's nice to stretch our supplies, especially with such a delicious fish. We have about 580 miles to go to NZ. Should be there, weather permitting, in about 6 days. We are pretty excited. It's hard to believe that we have sailed all this way. We've heard from a couple of the cruisers who arrived in NZ ahead of us and they say that it is just beautiful and very cruiser friendly. We plan to buy a good guide book once we arrive, so that we can make the most of our time there. The cyclone season will be starting any time now in the South Pacific and we will be staying in NZ until we can head back up to the tropics next April. Well it's time to do a look about and make sure the boat's still on track. Take care of yourselves, Jim and Barb S/V SpanishStroll At Sea December 02, 2004 Hello Everyone, Just keep sailing, just keep sailing....we finally hit some wind and have been able to sail for the last couple of days. Not very much wind, about 10 to 12 knots, but enough for us to move along comfortably. Unfortunately the wind is from the South West, just the way we are trying to sail....isn't that unusual? :) (sailor joke) Karen and Horst, our friends from the S/V Flo have been in NZ for a couple of weeks. We just got an email from them. They were staying in the marina at Opua, which is our destination, but have now moved on towards Auckland. They stayed in the marina for a week and said it was very reasonable and nice to be on a dock once again. Hot showers, laundry, all the comforts of home! We are considering doing the same thing when we arrive, just to get ourselves oriented to a real country again. Our plans, however, change like the wind.....but we will keep in touch. We have 420 miles to go! Take care of yourselves, Jim and Barb S/V SpanishStroll At Sea December 06, 2004 Hello Everyone, Still sailing and it sure is taking a long time to get to NZ! After a few days of calms, then a few days of good winds (but from the wrong direction) we hit calms again! Tuesday the wind started off calm and we enjoyed sailing along with our spinnaker for most of the day. We are downloading weather maps from NZ daily and we knew that we would be crossing a cold front so we were not surprised when the winds started to pick up in the afternoon and the clouds started to build in the southwest. We changed sails and changed sails and changed sails until we were all the way down to a double reefed main and a small reefed stay sail. How exciting, the winds picked up to over 30 knots and the seas were quite steep. We decided to heave to for the night, staying that way until quite late the next morning. Most of the boats we've been in contact with on this crossing did the same. The winds remained at 20 to 25 knots with 10 to 12 foot seas for the next day or so and have just calmed down today. As a matter of fact, it is so calm that we are motoring along right now. What little wind and swell there is comes from the south, the direction we need to go, of course! It's been nine days and we still have at least two more days to go on an 8 day trip...... Our illusive leak on the port side is really very active when seas flood the deck, which they have quite often this crossing. Unfortunately sea water found it's way to Barb's clothes lockers in the v berth area, just when she is starting to need her warmer clothes. As we get closer to NZ the weather is changing very rapidly and we find ourselves wearing sweats most of the day and even socks in the evenings. As close as Minerva Reef we were able to wear swimsuits almost exclusively. Hard to believe that this is the beginning of summer in NZ! With the exception of the night or two as we crossed the cold front and experienced cloud cover, the night watches have been spectacular during this crossing. We had a full moon when we left Minerva which would rise nightly at about 12:30 am and put on quite a show with the help of the few trade wind clouds on the horizon. It has slowly diminished and the stars have increased into the kazillions. The cockpit at night is our own personal little observatory. We often find when we come back down after being out side for a look about during our watches that all we really did was look at the stars. And with that, better go out do a look about.....don't want to crash into any constellations. We'll be in touch soon. Take care of yourselves, Jim and Barb S/V SpanishStroll New Zealand December 19, 2004 G'day Mates, We arrived safely in New Zealand on December 9th at 5:00 am NZ time. The last few days of travel were uneventful. Mostly calm seas and the last day was really beautiful...we had 20 knots of wind and fairly flat seas which made for an excellent sail. We could see the north island of New Zealand, which certainly added to the experience and made for a spectacular sunset. We arrived at the Bay of Islands after dark. It is a 13 mile trip through the bay to the Opua Marina and the customs check in dock. We were glad to have our electronic charting program hooked to our global positioning system (GPS)as a guide. Just follow the dotted line navigation. We slept for a few hours before customs came on board to check us in. Very thorough and really nice guys with funny accents. They took our popcorn and garlic cloves cause they can grow or something, but we didn't have anything else they were looking for with one exception - they had huge garbage bags with them and "confiscated" all our trash! No worries! We took a slip in the marina until the 7th of January. We wanted to fix a few things and it's also convenient for laundry, showers etc... We're taking a long time getting busy though. Not only is it Christmas time, but it is also the beginning of summer vacation here in New Zealand. The weather is more like So. California in the winter! We are really happy to have our little Force 10 heater! There are a couple hundred boats in the marina itself and at least another 100 or more on moorings and anchored right outside the marina. Most cruisers check in here arriving from the South Pacific. It is also a favorite spot for vacationers especially from New Zealand and Australia. The Opua Yacht Club welcomes cruisers and has fair priced meals and wine and beer four nights a week and is a favorite gathering place. It is really fun to meet up with fellow cruisers that we have seen off and on throughout our travels this past year. Nobody can remember names, but everyone can remember boat names. New Zealand is so very beautiful, though we haven't been out of this small resort area yet. The town of Pahia is about five miles north and feels like Lake Arrowhead or Big Bear. The view from the town pier of all the green forested islands is awesome. Seems more like a lake than the ocean. The cool air is so crisp and clean. Highs and Lows and Fronts march across New Zealand with regular frequency and every day brings sunshine, clouds, rain, high winds and strong currents. Sometimes all at once! We dress in layers to be ready for anything. We sure miss being home with the family for the holidays. Our first time apart, ever! We have made some plans...on Christmas Eve we will join in on a Christmas carol sing along in the town park in Pahia. They sell candles and song sheets with profits going to a charity of some sort. That should be fun. Then on Christmas day the Opua Yacht Club has offered it's building for the cruisers to use so that we can get together for a pot luck. Thank goodness there's always someone who loves to take charge and organize things. Not sure what to bring yet. Ran into some friends at the store yesterday looking for canned pumpkin for pies but unable to find any after several stops. Some things are different for sure. They have plenty of pumpkin soup, but no pumpkin for pie! We hope this finds you all happily busy with the holidays and looking forward to Santa's visit. We have so much to tell you all about New Zealand and we've hardly begun to explore! Take care of yourselves. Happy Holidays! Take care of yourselves, Jim and Barb S/V SpanishStroll New Zealand December 30, 2004 G'day Mates, Still "stuck" in Opua, the Bay of Islands.....it is a beautiful place but the Kiwis need to learn how to do summer. It's rained almost every day and we've experienced gale force winds and constant downpours for the last two days. The locals say that this is unusual, and so we wonder why they have regularly scheduled weather updates three times a day?...hmmmm... A fellow cruiser David, from England, let us use his car and take a road trip a day or so before Christmas. LOOK OUT!! Not only had we not driven since we left California in April, but they drive on the "wrong" side of the road here! Add to that a stick shift on the left side of the driver and you have quite an exciting trip. Working as a team we managed to make it into the town of Kerikeri 30 miles north of the harbor. The countryside was reminiscent of central California. Rolling grass covered hills, lots of trees and some huge ferns. There are a lot of cows and sheep grazing amongst the wineries (which we thought it best not to stop at!). The town of Kerikeri is a small tourist town much like Pahia close by. We did a little Christmas shopping and had a nice lunch before heading back. Since then we have been passengers in a car to Kerikeri a couple more times and I guess that's when we could get our eyes off the road and actually notice how beautiful the country side is. We met a fellow cruiser from Sweden, Thomas, who actually has lived in King Harbor, Redondo Beach before and knows some of the same folks as we do! He cruises on a boat named "Wet Spot". Small world. He will be flying back to the states the end of January to work for a few months before heading back down here and sailing off to the far east. A really nice guy with a great sense of humor, be sure to meet him if you get the chance. Reggie on "N" dock should know his whereabouts. We are really having a hard time getting things done on the boat here. The rain and fun keep us from it! We only have the slip until January 7th and then it's either out on a mooring or anchor. We plan to be in this bay for awhile after we leave the marina. There are so many islands and rivers we can explore! Hope this finds you all well and that Santa was good to you! Be sure to have a safe celebration as we bring in 2005! We will.... Take care of yourselves, Jim and Barb S/V SpanishStroll