Scuttlebutt

For those who may not have heard, we found out that Katie was pregnant a few weeks ago. Our plans at this point of course changed quite a bit! Rather than continue cruising polynesia we decided we needed to head home. This meant a 2500mile passage to Hawaii to start with, and then the final leg back to Seattle. After waiting a week for a weather window we decided that it might be best for Katie to fly. Being in the middle of the ocean for weeks might not be the best idea so she left on a jet plane.  I was hoping for a window shortly after she left but it just would not materialize. Despite what my pilot charts said, and what the locals had to say about how nice the weather should be for a passage to Hawaii, the weather just would not cooperate. Not that I am unfamiliar with uncooperative weather, but there is a bit more sense of urgency now than there has been before!

I decided after looking at the long range forecast that I would go to Moorea to wait for it to change. The timing worked perfectly, Our friends Neville and Catherine on S/V Dream Time, were heading that way, so we met up in Oponohu Bay, on Moorea's north coast. With nothing but time to kill and all of my boat projects finished when they asked if I wanted to go on a snorkeling/spearfishing/feed some rays expedition I agreed. We spent most of a morning and afternoon in the water for one of these reasons or another. With a nice little restaurant nearby, and a rather long dinghy ride ahead we decided to grab a bite to eat before we headed home. A couple of Hinanos and a nice meal later we were on our way. The eight foot inflatable loaded with our gear, there was not much room to spare.

We were motoring by a more remote portion of the reef(although there is quite a bit of local boat traffic) we saw two locals out on the reef looking somewhat out of place. As we were wondering what they were doing so far out without a boat they started waving that "I need help" wave and so we quickly changed course and headed their way. As we approached we could see their belongings floating around at which point we knew whatever kind of vessel they had was now on the bottom. We quickly pulled them into the dinghy, And began rounding up there belongings. With a language barrier to get around it took a while to figure out exactly what happened, by the time we got to shore it had become obvious that they were both cut up pretty bad by the coral, and they had a boat on the reef that they needed to get back. We let the woman off and unloaded what we had been able to gather up, and headed back out to try and salvage their boat. It wasn't until we were practically standing in the breakers on the edge of the reef that it dawned on us that these people had been out on the ocean, and most likely due to engine failure them and their 14 foot aluminum skiff had been caught by the breakers and thrown onto the reef. It was quite a sobering thought, and amazing they weren't more seriously injured. Breaking waves no matter their size are very powerful, and on this particular afternoon they were not small. Coral reefs are not a soft or gentle landing place when there is tons of water throwing you onto it. It can be incredibly sharp, and easily cut you to the bone, there are crevasses and holes which can quite easily break bones if tangled up, and yet somehow this couple had managed to escape with only cut up feet and legs.

Neville and I and Max, the local man then went about trying to refloat his skiff. It took quite some time as the water we were in was turbulent and waves kept sweeping the boat and undoing all the bailing that had been done! We did evntually manage to float the skiff and tow it ashore. Both Neville and I had thankfully had shoes to wear to save our feet, but even in the relatively short time were were working we were pretty scraped up. it makes what Max and his wife went through even more amazing.

Through all of this Max had been focused and didn't show much emotion despite having lost most of his belongings, his engine, and his skiff now being quite beat up, but when we came across his tackle box floating in the water, he picked it up and when he realized it had been completely emptied, its contents scattered across the reef you could actually see his heart sink. It was as though up until that point there was hope that maybe if nothing else he would be able to recover some of his fishing gear. In the end all were safe ashore, with as much as could be recovered, the skiff loaded on a truck, off to be repaired, and Neville, Catherine and I trying to wrap our heads around everything that had just happened on our otherwise completely usual day. We debriefed that evening with a few cold beers still trying to grasp the whole event.

The rest of my time in Moorea, Neville and I spent a good deal of time trying to catch some fish for dinner, which we failed at miserably! On my last day there we decided we would give it one more go, pull out all the stops, and we fished and fished and fished, not returning until dark, and still empty handed! Catherine thankfully was able to bail us out by making a nice chicken dinner, not without having a laugh at our failed efforts! Now by the time we had finished dinner it was getting late, and we started to hear fish splashing around the boat, and unwilling to be beaten I started casting into the darkness and was first rewarded by one rather large fish which I quick released, and another slightly smaller trevally soon after. By this time with our bellies full, and it being late we could not be bothered to process them so there were no fish harmed that evening.

I am now back in Tahiti at Marina Taina, getting ready to check out. With a good weather window, I am counting down the hours to departure time. I will be sailing the 2500 miles to Hawaii solo, but hopefully the weather will not let me down and it will be a fast passage(you have to be an optimist out here!). The fish will gather for Pahto and her crew, the tradewinds will blow steady, and the doldrums will not develop until I am far north, and I will be home soon. Well, at least its a nice idea anyway, right?