The guest of honor at the pig roast (that's bananas on top)

Yes, we have no bananas...

One of our hosts on Hanamenu

Mark and Bob with the Chief

Ruins. This is the PaePae or platform for their huts. The stonework is fantastic.

More ruins in the jungle

We left Atuona and are going around Hiva Oa in a clockwise direction. Today we sailed up the West side of the island in a nice 15-20 knot SE breeze. The North side of the island has about three nice anchorages, of which this one is the first we’ll stop at. Got here and dropped the hook about 1600. Our friends on Blue Rodeo are here as well and after we had anchored and taken our bucket showers (Ann soaped up and jumped in the bay to rinse, I sat in the cockpit during a squall and soaped up and just let the rain shower rinse me) they came over for a cocktail. We also had a bet as to whose equator crossing costumes were the best. We had seen pictures of theirs and were impressed, but they saw ours tonight and declared us the winners. After they went back to their boat, Ann made up a salad for dinner and we’ve been sitting in the warm evening air in this lovely cove. Waves breaking on the shore, half-moon shinning down, Southern Cross hanging to the South, Big Dipper pointing the way in the North. Just lovely. We’re so glad to be underway again.

Last night we went to a pig roast. One of the other boats arranged it with a local. It was truly an event. It was at his house, so didn’t feel commercial, and we got 20 people together from all the boats in the anchorage and they arranged transportation to his house up on the hill overlooking the bay. It was a great event. The food was spectacular. Pig, roasted goat, poi, baked bananas, poisson cru and several other delicacies. The man’s daughter danced several gorgeous Marquesan Hulas after dinner.

I wish I could send pictures, but there’s just no good internet here. Just the shortwave or wireless at the post office, which is really only good for text. I tried uploading pictures and it stalled. So, you all will have to live with descriptions until we’re somewhere with better access. The next place with a post office (therefore internet) is in about a week or so. We’ll see how we do then.

It really is amazing being here. Ann and I were sitting on the cabin top tonight, enjoying a glass of wine after dinner, looking out over this little bay (a cove really-it’s not very large) and marveling at how lucky we are to be in such a beautiful place.

Au revoir for now.

Not a bad place to end up!

Nice place. We’re having a good time reacquainting ourselves with land again. In fact, we were so wobbly-kneed when we got here, Ann fell down because her legs just weren’t working after 24 days at sea. I almost feel off the dock after climbing up out of the dinghy.

So, we’ve been having a good time and working our b***’s off as well as cleaning up the mess that all that time at sea makes. We were just commenting tonight that we never thought the inside of Charisma would ever be dry again. However, one good, dry day today with the intense sun and all the cushions and stuff that were damp are now dry again after being left out in the sun all day (with no squalls). Ann heroically took apart the entire supply locker which had salt water in it from a leak through the after chainplates. That’s a huge job moving hundreds of pounds of canned goods and stuff out of the lockers onto the floor and then after cleaning out the locker, moving it all back in-and packing it carefully so it fits. I cleaned the hull which had barnacles and other sea grime that was turning the hull dark brown up to two feet above the waterline. I guess the bow wave when you’re moving allows the creatures to bond with the hull above the antifouling paint. Anyway, it was grueling. In the dinghy, hanging onto Charisma with one arm while scrubbing with a brush with the other arm-all in two foot waves that were banging me into the hull the whole time. When that was done, I hauled a friend on one of the other boats 70 feet up his mast so he could run a new halyard (his broke about four days out of here); Then, I hauled another one of our friends up Charisma’s mast to look at our radar. It’s been malfunctioning and we were hoping to find some corrosion or something that we could fix. Sadly, at this point it looks like a software issue and we’re still looking for a way to make it function again. Our latest thinking is that it may have been “tweaked” by some of the lightning in the ITCZ. Here’s hoping we can get it functioning again. Then I took apart the chainplate cover that was leaking so I can reseal it tomorrow so we don’t end up with soggy mattresses and cans (that are under the mattresses).

Tomorrow, more boat projects, but we’re also heading into the village for the monthly arts and crafts fair. Also, in the evening we’re going to a pig roast. One of the other boats found a local guy who will host a pig roast at his house as long as we have at least 10 people. We do, so we are. More to come on that. We also bought an internet card, so we hope to be able to get some wi-fi and upload at least a few pictures in the next day or so. But, this is a really small and remote town, and it only works within 50 feet of the post office, so we’ll see…

Land Ho!

Not much farther now.

Hiva Oa. We are here! Spent last night from around 0300 until 0700 hove to about ten miles off the island. The radar was acting up, so I didn’t want to get any closer until daylight. Once dawn showed, we heading the last ten or so miles into Atuona Bay where we are now anchored. There are about 14 boats in total here. This place “feels” a lot like an older Hanalei. Very rural, small town. Very nice people. We’ll stay here for three or so days and then move on to less traveled areas. Our next step will be a clockwise trip around this island and we’ll likely take somewhere around a week and stop at a few different places for hiking and playing. Customs was very simple thanks to the agent we had hired through Lattitude 38. Cost was somewhere in the $200 range, but given the Gendarme only spoke French and all the hoops you need to jump through in a French protectorate, it was worth it. “Sandra” was our agent and not only gets you through customs but is also your contact while in town. Just call on VHF Channel 11 and ask and she will do her best to help out. Ride to town, ride back, need to know how to get fresh vegetables (there’s not many, but she knows where to get them), etc, etc.

This evening, we had a delightful dinner with Mark and Ann on Blue Rodeo and Bill and Kat from Island Bound. We all got in this morning from La Cruz. Even though we didn’t see each other for the 2600 or so miles, we three converged at the same time. We had fresh Mahi caught by us and fresh Wahoo caught be Bill and Kat. Nice.

That’s it for today, I can see I’m rambling from need for sleep. We’re very tired after a long, long day and night yesterday. Time for some sleep now, then boat clean- up tomorrow. It’s wet inside from the long trip and we need to dry out, air out, clean, laundry (Sondra’s going to take care of that one) and do some repairs.

Position: 09 degrees, 11 minutes South; 138 degrees, 20 minutes West (148 NM today)’

23 days at sea and counting (24 tomorrow). Wow, we’re just 38 miles out right now as of 2130 local boat time. We have had dinner, done roll call with the other 20 some boats stretched out behind us (for the last time) and watched the sun set. Now we’re settling in for the night watches. Ann’s is first and she should get us to within five or so miles after which we’ll sail around the South side of the island (Hiva Oa, in the Marquesas, French Polynesia) and if needed, heave-to until dawn. The waypoint I set is still 10 miles off the island and then there’s a good 15 mile sail around the South side to the anchorage so we may not have to heave-to depending on the wind.

This is something I’ve dreamed about for oh, about 40 some years. It’s so amazing to be doing this I can’t quite fathom it. Right now with no island in sight yet, it seems like just another sail along the coast, so I won’t get the perspective that this has been a great adventure until we’re anchored and looking at a lush, tropical island. Actually we’ll be entering at a bay called Atuona where we go through French immigration/customs. There’s a small town there. After we go through the immigration stuff, we’ll likely spend a couple days winding down and doing some boat clean up. Then we’re going to spend about a month sailing this island group and seeing the bays, inlets, villages and such. There are supposed to be some cool archeological sites with ancient Tikis and petroglyphs and of course, we’re looking forward to beautiful tropical anchorages in which to relax and enjoy the surroundings. Also, we just want to experience the area and meet the people who live here. Then we’ll move on to the next island group South of here; the Tuamotus for about a month, then on to the Society Islands where we’ll visit Tahiti, Moorea, Bora Bora and other islands of that group.

An exciting next three months on the agenda.

Position; 07 degrees, 52 minutes South; 136 degrees, 14 minutes West (149 NM)

The GPS just ticked over to 199 nautical miles to go! That puts us in Hiva Oa around midnight tomorrow. Not wanting to go into a fairly primitive area at night, we’ll lay offshore for the night and make landfall after sunrise on Tuesday. Wow, what a trip. No doubt it will take a few days to gain perspective. We’re too close to the rocking and rolling and hanging on right now to think about it much.

Cliff, you’re “good luck fishing in the Southern Hemisphere” statement worked! The Mahi we caught yesterday broke a string of very mediocre fishing. I looked at the pictures today, and the fish was more like 4 feet long than the three feet I reported last night. Definitely a good size fish. I’ve got two big fillets marinating right now in soy, wasabi, ginger sauce. Can’t wait. Fresh fish!

Today’s been a nice windy day. Around 20 knots and 8-12 foot seas are moving us along pretty well. Last night was lots of beautiful stars for my watch. However, Ann got the squally early morning watch (0700-1100) and saw several where she had to reduce sail and close the hatches due to wind and rain. We’ve been working on her sail handling and she now can furl the jib without waking me. She really knows her way around the boat now. She does the Shortwave net call, and has her own net of friends for another social call around 1700 every day, knows the VHF, works the radar, works the GPS, can set the wind vane and adjust it as needed to change course and now can furl the jib and catch fish. Pretty soon if I’m not careful she won’t need me to run the boat and I’ll be demoted to swabbing the decks and gutting the fish. Hey….wait a minute. That’s what I did yesterday! It’s starting to happen!

Just wanted to add that the second squall included a full rainbow arching across the horizon – clearly showing us the way to Hiva Oa!!!

Position; 07 degrees, 52 minutes South; 136 degrees, 14 minutes West (149 NM)

Mahi!

Flip flop feet.

Our portrait at 21 days.

The GPS just ticked over to 199 nautical miles to go! That puts us in Hiva Oa around midnight tomorrow. Not wanting to go into a fairly primitive area at night, we’ll lay offshore for the night and make landfall after sunrise on Tuesday. Wow, what a trip. No doubt it will take a few days to gain perspective. We’re too close to the rocking and rolling and hanging on right now to think about it much.

Cliff, you’re “good luck fishing in the Southern Hemisphere” statement worked! The Mahi we caught yesterday broke a string of very mediocre fishing. I looked at the pictures today, and the fish was more like 4 feet long than the three feet I reported last night. Definitely a good size fish. I’ve got two big fillets marinating right now in soy, wasabi, ginger sauce. Can’t wait. Fresh fish!

Today’s been a nice windy day. Around 20 knots and 8-12 foot seas are moving us along pretty well. Last night was lots of beautiful stars for my watch. However, Ann got the squally early morning watch (0700-1100) and saw several where she had to reduce sail and close the hatches due to wind and rain. We’ve been working on her sail handling and she now can furl the jib without waking me. She really knows her way around the boat now. She does the Shortwave net call, and has her own net of friends for another social call around 1700 every day, knows the VHF, works the radar, works the GPS, can set the wind vane and adjust it as needed to change course and now can furl the jib and catch fish. Pretty soon if I’m not careful she won’t need me to run the boat and I’ll be demoted to swabbing the decks and gutting the fish. Hey….wait a minute. That’s what I did yesterday! It’s starting to happen!

Just wanted to add that the second squall included a full rainbow arching across the horizon – clearly showing us the way to Hiva Oa!!!

Position: 06 degrees, 35 minutes South; 134 degrees, 06 minutes West (159 NM today)

Update at 1930 local time, right as we were making dinner, we hooked a Dorado. Ann pulled it in and it threw the hook right next to the boat. Bummer. We tossed the hook over the side, got going again and before we knew it, there’s another one on the hook. Ann brought this one in as well and we successfully landed it. A good three footer. We now have twelve large Mahi fillets in the freezer and fridge. Yay!

This blog from Ann:

They say it takes twenty-one days to make a habit. Well today is day 21 on the Pacific Ocean and things are always changing slightly. After 120 watches we are used to the watch habit.

Fun night watches go like this. Bob wakes me up by gently shaking my leg. “Yes, yes. I’m up.” I struggle to sit up as Charisma heels to one side. I get steady on my feet. There is always an adjustment period of a minute or two , then “monkey bar” my way to the bathroom. Fortunately Charisma has great handholds along the ceiling. By the time I get out of the bathroom Bob has started some hot water so I can make my hot drink of choice to help me stay awake/wake up. This watch I choose hot chocolate. I take time to find a snack too. The snack cabinet is full of granola bars, gorp, nuts and dried fruit. It even has some candy. Bob has found the Oreos – his favorite. I go for the bag of mini wheats

I find my clothes, put on my PFD and before we turn off the ceiling light I get my headlamp and switch it to red light – not so harsh on the eyes. I take a step or two up the companion way and find my harness and clip in. Then the juggling begins as I start relaying up my drink and goodies including my choice of entertainment. Some nights it is the IPod or a book. This watch I am playing on my IPad. I had some killer games of Scrabble last night!

Precariously I reach out to the binnacle and put my drink in one of the cup holders. It is a long stretch and I can just make it if Charisma is not heeling too much. Oops. Forgot to refill my water bottle. I unclip and go back down the stairs and fill’er up. Back up the companion way again and I am ready to ride the bongo board! I hang on tightly to the binnacle as I work my way around it to the other side of the helm. To get readjusted to the rocking and rolling I stand with one hand holding on and am taken back to my childhood memories of days spent at Aunt Geri’s riding her bongo board. (Bob and I figure that these don’t exist anymore due to liability issues.) On Aunt Geri’s board it was a quick back forth, back forth and maybe, if you are really good it lasts for 30 seconds before you clunk to a stop. On Charisma I am the bongo master! When I am feeling really steady I let go with both hands and feel supreme. Then Charisma takes a hard roll and teaches me humility. Smartly I give in quickly and grab on again.

On my bongo board the wind blows through my hair. It’s so refreshing. Sometimes you can smell fish in the air. Sometimes I am hit by spray. I look up as I balance and am in awe of God’s celestial art show. I look for my favorite – the Big Dipper and find that down here it starts to disappear into the horizon early. But that’s okay because the Southern Cross is showing off at due south. I am treated to an exploding star that looks like someone flicked on a light and then it fizzles its way to the horizon. Wish made and I am still riding the bongo board. Aunt Geri is cheering me on!

From this great position I also get to do the check-in on the navigation pod. We are on course, steering 225 – Wilson only seems to give Bob a hard time. Wow! 410 miles to Hiva Oa! Winds are consistent and comfortable at 12-17 knots out of the south east and Charisma just logged an 8.8 speed-over-ground as she surfs down another wave. The wave sends phosphorescent lace across the dark water. It is gorgeous to watch.

Hanging on tightly I step up onto the cockpit seat and work my way back around to the front of the binnacle and facing the bow I remain standing and hold on to the edge of the dodger and enjoy the ride. From this vantage point you can see the bow lift and bob as Charisma carves through the waves. These are the times I wish I was on a boat next to us so I could see how graceful we look. Charisma surfing, the mast playing connect the dots with the stars and me, like a puppy dog, hanging my head in the wind taking it all in. Making that mental picture because you could never capture this on film.

I am the Bongo Queen!

Position: 05 degrees, 19 minutes South; 131 degrees, 50 minutes West (151 NM)

It’s 0400 local time. Charisma’s bounding along leaving a wide, white swath in the dark night water under a 360 degree canopy of stars. The familiar Big Dipper to my left and the new Southern Cross to my right. I’m keeping her a bit throttled back tonight after last night’s squally episode. As usual we have a double reefed main and 40% rolled jib since this configuration works pretty well at the current 15-20 knots, but will tolerate up to 30 knots of wind. Still, we’re moving along nicely and I’m in a parallel groove listening to Bob Dylan’s “Thunder On The Mountain” on my iPod. Classic driving rock and roll a la Chuck Berry.

Boat’s have personalities and Charisma is no exception. Some days they will do anything you ask, other days they can be very contrary. Wilson the wind vane also has his own personality and I think Wilson and Charisma are in cahoots! Most of the time, I can get them to go the course I want, but sometimes, no matter what I do or what I change, they sail the course they want to sail. Last night, I was trying to sail 225 degrees magnetic. Wilson and Charisma wanted to go 210, which is OK, but not quite where we want to go. So, we’re on 210. I retrim the jib and main a bit, tweak the wind vane adjustment as well as the wheel and; there we go. We’re on 225. I watch the compass for a while and we’re good, so I go do something else and with a wink and a nod, Wilson and Charisma take off on their own. I come back to the helm and look. 210 degrees. So, I change a few more things to rebalance the boat, get her going on 225 degrees, watch for a while. OK, good. Now it’s working. I go off and come back about 20 minutes later and; what the heck!! We’re back to 210!! Oh well, sometimes it’s best to just go with the flow, so I leave Wilson and Charisma to their own for the night. They were still on 210 this morning after Ann’s watch and the ride was getting a little rough, so I changed it to 225. This time they set up and we’ve been going 225 all day. Go figure.

Speaking of the wind vane, as I mentioned Wilson does all the steering. Some folks will wonder; “what the heck do YOU do all day then?” Well, on a long trip like this it’s about voyage management and not steering. You’re monitoring the wind and waves for correct course and sail configuration. Too much sail and the boat won’t track no matter how hard you try and not enough sail and it similarly won’t steer well (and you go too slow!). There’s also periodic planning for weather and navigation. At least once/day I get a weather report on the radio to check whether there are any weather surprises we need to avoid and I also check our position and course on the chart; cross checking against the GPS Chartplotter and making sure we have a hard copy of our latest position in case the electronics quit.

One of the more time consuming tasks in general boat maintenance. Checking rigging to make sure things are tight (found a shackle on the mainsheet the other day that had backed out and was 1/8″ from letting go) and lubricate squeaks. There’s also a lot of systems management. Checking the water and if the tank is less than 75% full, running the watermaker which requires a set of tasks to start it up as well as shut it down. Power management is a big one. We run on our batteries. If they go dead, we’re stuck without navigation, refrigeration and the capability to make water, so I spend a fair amount of time watching them. I adjust the solar panels during the day to try and maintain an optimum angle for charging. At night, when the panels go dormant, I deploy the hydro-electric system. This is a propeller on a very stiff rope that turns a generator which provides electricity for the batteries. Our last alternative is the engine which has an alternator that will charge the batteries. In the 20 days we’ve been out though, we’ve only had to resort to the engine two times during a period in the ITCZ when it was 100% cloudy for two days and we were using the radar a lot. There are a bunch of other secondary systems and then Ann keeps things going (on top of keeping her watches) with laundry, bread baking cookie baking and yogurt making which are things that really make the difference between “roughing it” and having a pretty enjoyable time afloat. Special treats like that out here really help morale when it’s rough and squally and it’s easy to get irritable. She also has developed an incredible spreadsheet that helps track our inventory of food and supplies. Each day this needs to be updated for usage. So far, we are doing well with finding things! And, thank goodness, she makes breakfast and lunch and (most importantly) does all of the dishes. This is no easy feat giving the rocking and rolling of the boat. It takes a lot of balance to do simple things!

Speaking of squalls

You don’t really see them at night. That’s one of the things that makes them so sneaky. What happens is you start to notice that the stars have disappeared. If it’s a big squall, a short time after you realize the stars are gone, it then seems like you’re sailing down into a long, dark tunnel. It gets very dark and ominous. You start to feel the wind cool and then a few raindrops. At this point, you have about 30 seconds to assess the sail combination that you have up and decide if it’s going to work for the gusts. If not, you have to reef/reduce sail fast. If the sails are set right, then you duck down below and start closing the port holes (12 of them), hatches (2) and put the companionway boards in place before the deluge starts. You don’t want the boat to get wet down below, because in the tropics in this humidity, it will never get dry.

So, if you got it all right, when the wind hits it’s Nantucket Sleigh Ride time. If not, Charisma goes wildly out of control, overpowering the wind vane steering and you have to go fight the buckets of rain to change something to get back into control.

At night the powerful squalls develop right in front of your eyes from that little “dark spot” you hardly noticed where the stars started to disappear into a huge looming beast. At that point you feel like Captain Kirk on the Starship Enterprise preparing to battle a giant cosmic wormhole or be blasted into another dimension. “Spock, what is it?” “Logically Captain, it shouldn’t exist” Ann doesn’t like squalls. (Now Ann speaks-true statement! They sneak up on you and Charisma and Wilson start rocking and rolling. I want to let Bob sleep but I can’t help thinking there is something else I should do to ease the impact. I get the boat shut up tightly but at times she just keeps heeling. Having experienced the ITCZ in Charisma I know she can handle it. But it still can take my breath away and I utter numerous prayers through the squalls.)

So, what about that Time Machine thing (oh yeah that’s right, the title of this post). Ann was looking at me the other morning and said; “What have you done? You look younger!” Ironically, I was downloading the pictures of our equator crossing and thinking the same thing; that Ann looked ten years younger (I’m guessing at the ten year thing, since I didn’t know her ten years ago, but it looks about right). Amazing but true. We’re getting younger. Maybe one of those squalls DID have a cosmic wormhole in it and we went through! Tonight’s dinner plans changed given the swells. We opted for Mac n’ Cheese with fried Spam. See Jerry, sometimes we eat the basics! Of course it went great with the last of the nice white wine from Free Spirit Dave!

Position: 03 degrees, 48 minutes South; 129 degrees, 51 minutes West (134 NM day)

Squalls started at about 0200 local time this morning and continued all into the early afternoon. Quite a breezy day. So once again we’re down to double reef and 40% jib and still doing about 7.5 knots although on average for the day we’re more at 6 knots.

Ann worked very hard today. She got bored on her early morning watch (2 am -6:3-0 am) so cleaned out the icebox and the head, then in the afternoon did a bunch of laundry. Makes me look like a slacker, although I did catch and process a fish. We think it was a Skipjack. Not one of my favorites, it’s a bit strong tasting, but I marinated it in lemon wasabi and cooked it with sautéed red onions, then served it on leftover rice and hominy. Ended up pretty good (and hey; “Free Spirit Dave”, we opened the wine you gave us tonight with the fish. Delicious!). Tomorrow, the other half of the fish will be cooked Veracruz style with chopped tomatoes, garlic and whatever else I can find over pasta.

Ann’s doing the nightly net right now. She’s getting pretty good with the radio. She has a five o’clock call with some of her friends on “8 Bravo” to chat up what they’ve been doing today and now she’s reporting in for us on the nightly net on” 8 Alpha” where we report our position each day at 0200 Zulu. It’s kind of a combination of a safety call where all the 20 or so boats that are enroute to Marquesas right now can check in. It’s also a chance to catch up with how everyone’s doing. The boats on the net are spread out from one that is due to make landfall tomorrow (after 37 days!) to one that just left Mexico a couple days ago and is probably a couple hundred miles out.

Messages: Jerry, I can totally see you “heaving to” in your Durango. Love it! I can also see you with a patch over one eye and a Popeye hat, but that’s another story. Joan: Landfall expected sometime in the next 5 or 6 days. And we’re excited the bike is getting a workout. And the bread has been yummy! Angela: Your posts are getting through and we are glad to have you following. We love comments! Cliff – tell the 5 am spin class to keep pedaling – the winds are really pushing us along. I guess Shellbacks move faster! Sue – Did Andy enjoy being on Charisma (new and improved) in your dream? Too funny!

Position: 02 degrees, 28 minutes South; 128 degrees, 01 minutes West (made 144 NM in last 24 hours)

We may not be catching a lot of fish, but they're jumping all over the deck at night. here's a flying fish that landed on the cabin top.

Yup, a nice, easy day even though it’s fairly windy and we’ve been averaging around 7.5 knots broad reaching with one reef in the main. Very sunny as a matter of fact. We’re both “hiding” from the sun today as it’s been so intense. We took advantage of the good weather by taking bucket baths in the cockpit. Usually, we bath up on the foredeck where there’s more room, but it’s also been windy and there’s a bit of a cross-swell which causes the boat to lurch unexpectedly, so it’s safer in the cockpit.

Ann has a nice new daily event. A couple of the other boats have organized an informal “afternoon chatternet” where they have some social interaction. They have a chance to compare notes on boat life and have a lot of fun keeping in touch. One of the other boats announced that they pulled in one of their fishing lines only to find just half a fish left on the lure. Oops. Well, not an hour later I pulled our hand-line in and; no lure! It had a wire leader that had been severed. I’m not sure whether by strength or teeth and probably don’t want to know as either are “no bueno”. Lost a really good lure.

Also, Ann made Apple Cinnamon Beer Bread. It came out great. We’re looking forward to toasting it for breakfast slathered with butter. Yum!

Pretty quiet day. Nice chance to recover from the last four or five very busy ones. That’s how Shellbacks roll!

OK, Shellbacks rule, Pollywogs drool. Adios till tomorrow (or maybe I should say; “bon souire”. We need to work on our French very soon (including the spelling).