Land Ho!

I just received exciting news via text from Kevin, after three very long, hard weeks of sailing he finally had a land sighting off his port beam! Now comes the frustrating part (at least for me it was) he can see land; however, he is still about 200 miles from his destination of Honolulu. Hopefully the wind will continue to blow and he won't be drifting or resort to motoring.  If he has to start motoring then he has to hand steer the entire time and that is not conducive to fishing, or sleeping, or eating for that matter.  The past few days he has been having a lot more fun than the rest of the trip combined.  The wind finally shifted and he was able to put a fishing pole in the water.  it wasn't a few hours later I received a text letting me know he caught his first mahi mahi of the trip!  He was really excited for a fresh fish dinner!  He said he had to stop fishing because his arms were getting tired.  I think that really lifted his spirits to be able to do some fishing and actually catch fish!

As of yesterday at one in the afternoon (Alaska time) his position was 19.02 North 153.09 west.  He made good 132 miles, his biggest day for the passage. He is expecting to get into Honolulu on Sunday.  His dad is meeting him in Honolulu on Wednesday and they hope to leave for Seattle (weather permitting) at the end of the week or possibly the beginning of the following week at the latest!

Happy (late...oops) Birthday to Kevin!

Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy birthday dear Kevin, Happy Birthday to you!  Kevin turned the big 2-6 yesterday, whoot!  I did get to call him and sing him happy birthday (which I know he totally appreciated, because he LOVES my singing!) He wasn't having all that great of a day sailing wise. his big birthday breakfast, a granola bar. Which i'm sure was 5 months old, from when we bought them in New Zealand and mostly melted because they had chocolate in them!  He did have big plans for his birthday dinner, a can of Salmon! Which i'm sure he ate directly from the can, bones and all (makes this pregnant lady want to be sick!) The good news is he is easy to please and I don't have to eat the canned salmon!

The past few days he has been battling 15-20 knot east northeast winds during the calm times and 35+ knot winds during a squall. And then on top of everything else it has been raining off and on all day.  Needless to say he is not having the best time ever.  When I spoke to him this morning he was heave to waiting out one of the squalls that hit over the night.  even with the bad weather he has still been averaging 80 to 100 mile days, Still not as good as we would have liked, but it is getting him there!

His current position is 5.28 North and 145.41 West making good 95miles.  he now has less than 1000 miles to go.  We are hoping he is able to make Honolulu in about 12 days.

Nearly halfway!

Kevin's current position is 3.57 south 146.07 west. He is averaging about 80 miles a day. Not as good as we had hoped for when he left but the weather is starting to improve. The wind has been steady the past few days blowing 10 to 15 on average. He is still getting the occasional squall but starting to get more and more fair skies! As he nears the equator I've been keeping tabs on the winds. So far it looks like there isn't going to be much of the doldrums to contend with (knock on wood.) which is a vast improvement from when he was heading south and spent 7 days trying not to travel backwards! W are hoping this second half of the trip will go a little faster than the first, even though he is still making decent time!

Day 7

So I have not been all that good about keeping updated with Kevins daily progress. He is making decent time but still struggling with getting good wind. As of today at 1pm (Alaska time) he only had 1698 miles to go! He has been struggling with squals that bring decent wind but are usually followed by periods of calm. He is getting plenty of time for movie watching! His current position is 7.51 degrees south and 146.45 degrees west. He made a solid 80 miles yesterday! For anyone who is curious about his unpublished previous position updates: 2/25/12 09.01 degrees south 147.25 degrees west 2/24/12 10.14 degrees south 147.19 degrees west 2/23/12 11.34 degrees south 147.26 degrees west 2/22/12 12.30 degrees south 147.58 degrees west

Day 2

Kevin made good time yesterday too. Not quite as many mies as the day before but he was still able to put 100mies behind him. Last night the weather turned squally and has continued through most of the day. Good thing he has plenty of movies and a few books to read! His current position is 14 degrees 01 minute south and 148 degrees 37 minutes west. Until tomorrow! Gotta love a sat phone with virtually instantaneous communication out in the middle of nowhere!

Day 1: Tahiti to Hawaii

Kevin left yesterday morning on his solo sail to Hawaii. He was lucky enough to get good weather and plenty of wind from the right direction because he planned on leaving on either Saturday or Sunday no matter what the weather was doing. He was able to make 120 miles in his first 24 hours, which is a good day for Pahto! Although he is not having as much fun as he should be because he said there is too much motion to do any fishing. I think he is a little disappointed about that since that is one of his favorite parts of being out on the water! He sent a message later in the day saying the wind had started to die a bit, but he was still able to make decent time. Hopefully he can keep up 120 mile days and make it to Hawaii in 3 weeks! His position as of this morning was 15 degrees 39 minutes south and 148 degrees 56 minutes west. I will keep everyone posted as he heads north!

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?

Post Script

 

Mid-morning this morning we decided that being such a beautiful day, and the wind being a nice breeze from the right direction, we would get underway for the nice relaxing 10 mile trip to Tahiti. We had to come here anyway so why not make the trip on a nice day right? Well, we were right, it was an absolutely beautiful day for a sail(although not for fishing).As our peaceful, relaxing, easy-going sail was nearing its end. We noticed that the swell was actually rather large, and the nearer we approached the pass the larger the swells appeared to be. Once we were within observational range, we furled our sails and stowed our fishing gear to make a cautious approach. After having a good look from seaward we decided that based on our previous experience and knowledge of the area, and our observations, that there should be no problem.

We could see that the swell was high, and the waves thundering over the reef unlike anything we had seen before, but in the pass there appeared to be no danger; Only the close proximity of such immense power as these seas to rattle our nerves. Well, as every mariner knows there comes a point in many situations from which there is no going back. The point of no return, the commitment, the hail mary, the point at which all things come together to allow or disallow said souls to continue to inhabit this earth. We were there. We had to make a decision. To go was to commit 100 percent to the unknown, to go back was to go another day without cold drinks. We went for it. As benign as the pass had appeared from seaward, upon entering we found the truth to be anything but benign. The current was pushing against the swell, and Pahto, the small yacht that could, with her engine turning full power, carrying on for all she was worth, could only just push against the current. As our small battle continued, we could see that in all directions there was nothing but the angry foaming whitewater that showed us the reefs, and many a mariners unfortunate end. We had only one direction to go, straight down the chute, to run the gauntlet of reefs and rapids, rips and whirlpools. The current tossed us like a toy dock on a pond, and we fought on, having no choice but to carry on. The battle seemed to carry on for hours and in reality could have been no more than fifteen minutes. We steered hard to starboard as the currents tried to carry us on to the reef to port. Then just as quick, turn hard a port as the currents tried to throw us on the reef to starboard. The tension on board could have been cut with a knife. We held our breaths, just 3 more boat lengths; oh such long boat lengths they were. We could see the end and yet could not reach it. Our desire to be free of the grasp of this horrible current was like nothing I had ever wished before.

Finally, we pushed passed the rips and eddies, whirlpools, and reefs that could have so easily have been our demise, and we pushed into the familiar lagoon of Punauia. Happy to have made it through our brief yet overly exciting adventure. We cruised around like a dog preparing to sleep until we found a spot that was just so, where the stars aligned and told us we should drop the hook, and relax into an afternoon of beer and cards. Well deserved I must say. We may have given up a day or two of our lives in the long run as a result of an extra dose of stress.The adventure that is every day in our lives afloat is worth all of the stress and turmoil that we only occasionally have to find a way to cope with.

Unexpected Adventure to Moorea

 

Our boat anchored in Oponohu Bay, Moorea

I sit here writing while listening to the wind whistling through the rigging, and enjoying the rays of sunshine which have not shown themselves for a couple of days now. Our plan was to leave Tahiti for hawaii several days ago, but wouldn’t you know it, the day we want to leave to sail north the wind decides to blow from the north. So here we are still in Tahiti, waiting for the wind to blow from almost any other direction!

Actually, we are in Moorea, Tahiti’s next door neighbour, Moorea Although seperated by only 10 miles, has a much different pace of life. Tahiti is all hustle and bustle with the largest city in the south pacific feeding and supplying over 200 outer islands, entertaining tourists and cruise ships from all over the world. Moorea on the other hand, people fish a little, maybe farm a little, and in their spare time they might go for a paddle in an outrigger canoe(locally known as Va’a). We have only just begun to explore Moorea, and the more time we spend here the more we like it. Anchoring in deep bays surrounded by volcanic pinnacles, or in the lagoon between the fringing reef and the island,we spend our time watching the waves breaking on the reef, schools of fish, and rays cruising the shallows.  We spent the first night in Oponohu Bay anchored out from a park.  This is one of our favorite spots to date.  We then moved to Passe Vaiere where we picked up a mooring ball (which Kevin likes because it saves him from having to set and then pull the anchor.) The location here is wonderful. Crystal clear waters, protected from most sides from the wind and there is even a store close buy if we need anything.  However, we have spend the last two days hunkered down on the boat because there has been one squall after another blow through. 

Kevin has spend the last week doing as much fishing as possible to try to catch a fish. Last night he found success in catching a reef fish.  He painstakingly kept it alive for as long as possible so he could use it this morning as bait to catch more fish.  Unfortunately, we cannot eat the fish we catch around the reef’s because often times they are siguatoxic.  But that won’t stop Kevin from trying to catch them!

We have spent a fair amount of time observing the weather patterns here. Not as a hobby, or out of curiosity, but because when cruising a small boat to distant ports, nothing is more significant to your life as the weather. It affects what you can do on any given day at anchor; where you can go, whether it be the grocery store or another island. At times we are boat bound, in a crowded anchorage with poor holding, leaving the boat when the wind is blowing is out of the question. This means no cold drinks, or ice cream, NOT EVEN BEER! If you were to leave and your anchor was to drag, the least that could happen is just a little confusion in finding the boat, but the worst case is coming home to find that home is now on a reef and full of holes. If you are en route to another island however, then the same breeze could be just what the doctor ordered, unless of course it is blowing directly from where you want to go. Then 200 miles becomes 400, or even more if you get an unlucky shift! You might lose a full nights sleep due to light and or shifty winds. So you see the weather dictates our lives in many ways. Currently it has dictated that we relax in a beautiful lagoon on Moorea’s eastern coast while we wait for a shift in the wind to return to the hustle and bustle of Tahiti to complete the necessary paperwork for our northbound voyage.

And so continues the saga of the good ship Pahto, Fair winds.

Adventure to the Leeward Islands

 

Kevin and I at Teahupoo beach on Tahiti Iti, one of the most famous surf spots in the world.

 

Well, it has been a busy couple of weeks for us. We sailed to the leeward islands. OK, maybe sailing isn’t the best description, it was more like motoring across a millpond on a quiet evening. That is until a huge Marlin decided to give us a run for our money! The boat and the ocean went from quiet to ecstatic in nanoseconds,  the sea monster was thrashing the water just 30feet behind us, waving his massive sword in preparation for attack, and then he was gone. For unknown reason the hook failed to set, the sea monster escaped to fight another day and our evening went back to calm and quiet.

We arrived at the entrance to the island of Huanine in the predawn hours the following morning, we trolled some gear around while waiting for daylight to enter the lagoon of Huanhine which was entirely unknown to us. We spent several hours winding our way between coral heads trying to find anchorage before turning into a rather large bay which we hoped would offer a resting place. Alas, there was no water shallow enough for the good ship Pahto to drop her anchor so we had to make a decision to either quickly run for Raiatea, or spend another night at sea.

That afternoon after escaping the clutches of the island without anchorage, we arrived in an old stomping ground. Faaroa Bay in the eastern coast of Raiatea Island. Here we recovered from our journey, views of the surrounding mountains and the jungle to keep us company, and offer welcome shade in the afternoon hours. The following morning we arose and hauled our anchor and set off north to explore Raiatea and Tahaa Island. Tahaa being The northen neighbour to Raiatea and sharing the same reef. We stopped in Uturoa the capitol of Raiatea and the center of commerce for the leeward islands. We restocked our supplies and carried on to Haamene Bay on Tahaa where we discovered a diamond in the rough, the “Hotel Hibiscus.” Here was a place that not only saves injured sea turtles, but serves the best seafood lunch on planet earth. Even Katie was impressed with how good the Mahi Mahi tasted and cleared her plate.

We did  a little more exploring around Tahaa only to find most businesses closed for Holidays that seem to go on for weeks, and with the weather turning, anchoring near enough the reef to snorkel was out of the question. Tahaa is known for both its pearl farms and vanilla plantations, which we were all looking forward to visiting, but we either couldn’t find them or they were also closed.  We turned our bow south, back to Uturoa to restock once more before heading for Faaroa Bay to prepare for winds that were forecasted to 50-60 knots. We set our storm tackle, consisting of two anchors separated by 30 feet of chain and an additional 300 feet of chain attaching the anchor to the boat totaling 500 pounds of gear (That Kevin had to hand pull onto deck at the end of the storm, well okay Dave helped too!), during the rather blustery afternoon. Satisfied we had done all we could we committed ourselves to cards and a few drinks. The wind did come the following morning bright and early, but lasted for only 4-5 hours. While the wind speeds were expected we were relieved that it did not continue to blow for days like we thought it might. However, the rain came down, and down, and down, and down some more. It rained so hard for so long that the entire lagoon became a sea of chocloate milk. This is where the story gets good, the wind came down enough that we comfortably put the boat on a mooring, in front of a hotel, where we stayed for a couple of days while the rain came down. Yes, we know that it’s cheating, but it’s a small boat, and the hotel had air conditioning, and a bar and amazing food we didn‘t have to make (or dishes we didn‘t have to clean) and a shower! Can you blame us? The rain did eventually stop falling and the sky did show itself once more and there was joy in the land.

We set off for the return trip to Tahiti, after spending three days happy as clams in a hotel, early in the morning after a good nights rest ashore, the wind was very light with some left over seas from the previous storm. We hoisted the main and turned on the motor and headed for the north point of Huahine. About Halfway across the 25 miles from Raiatea to Huahine Dave asked Kevin if They could tow some fishing gear. The seas had come down and the motion of the boat was such the fighting a fish would not be too dangerous. About 5 minutes after the gear was set there was a burst of excitement as a Marlin began his attack. Soon we had another Marlin against Man battle of the ages playing out on the back deck of Pahto. Unfortunately our Mahi Mahi gear did not stand up well to the punishment the Marlin was giving it and he broke free from our grasp and swam off taking the lure with him.

The rest of the passage was mostly uneventful with the exception of two very unwelcome wind squalls. It was actually some sort of strange weather phenomena that none of us on board had seen before. We dealt with them, and otherwise thoroughly enjoyed our sail. Dave was an awesome addition to the crew for the time he was here, making the on watches shorter and the off watches longer. Somehow the anchor got easier to pull, and a few things managed to get fixed in between hooking sea monsters and drinking Hinano (the local beer).

We have spent the last three days anchored back in Punauia, 10 kilometers south of Papeete, and are waiting for a weather window to move east to the Tuamotus. Unless of course we decide to change our plans and do something different.

Fair Winds to all from the good Ship Pahto

Happy New Year

 

Our Boat Anchored in Cooks Bay on Moorea

Happy New Year everyone!  We have had a pretty busy last few weeks.  Dave, Kevin’s dad, arrived on the 27th for a two week vacation!  It has been fun having him with us we took him into the market and also to the Te Fare Manaha Museum, a museum on the history of Tahiti and her islands.  It told if the history of the islands from when it was settled to present day.  For my birthday Dave and Jeanie (Kevin’s mom) got me, well and Kevin, a hotel room for the night.  A real bed and a stand-up shower!  I seriously took like 4 showers in a less than 24 hour period. It went something like Check in, shower, go to museum, shower, go to dinner, shower, wake up, shower, breakfast, shower, time to check-out, shower again.  It was quite possibly the most wonderful shower I’ve ever taken.  Dave also took us out to a nice dinner at the restaurant at the hotel.  The food there was superb but Kevin had this mahi mahi with a vanilla sauce.  I really don’t like fish all that much but this sauce that they cook the fish in was heavenly. 

The day before new years eve we pulled anchor and headed for Moorea and anchored in Cooks Bay.  The trip took about 4 hours and was pretty good sailing.  The seas were a little rough but we had the perfect amount of wind and a cloudless sky!  We successfully managed to find the only bar in Cooks Bay and anchor right in front of it!  Worked quite perfectly.  I just so happened that in this anchorage there were three other boats already tied up.  Two were Americans and the other from England. It didn’t take long to make introductions and head to the local pizza joint for some beer, pizza and good conversation!  We ended up spending new years with the group on one of the other boats as well. (Kevin wasn’t all that excited for me to see this boat because it had things like refrigeration, and a freezer and a shower… I think he thought I would either jump ship or demand a bigger boat.  Thankfully neither happened, but it was a nice boat!)  It was a great way to spend new years with some new friends! 

Our plan after Moorea is to head to the leeward islands starting with Huahine! 

First Week in Tahiti!

 

A view from Pahto looking at the marina office/restaurant and the hillside of Punaauia.

 

Hello and Merry Christmas from Tahiti!  We’ve been stationed in Punaauia (the actual town that Marina Taina is in) for a little over a week now and yep, still loving it!  Our days basically consist of waking up with the sun, usually around 6:30am (don’t ask me how this happens.  It must be like some island time or my body just knows it doesn’t have to go to work so waking up early is okay, because normally I’m sleeping until the last minute and that is never 6:30.)  We do some reading or guitar playing, then eventually make our way to shore to get some stores for the day and ice cream and possibly, okay probably beer, then head back to the boat where we go swimming or snorkeling or do some boat work.  It is a pretty strenuous situation really.  Very stressful!  We have gone into Papeete a few times.  It is about a 15 minute bus ride that picks us up right outside of the marine and drops us off right in downtown on the waterfront.  I don’t know if it is like this year round because it is Christmas right now, but there are lots of street venders selling goods plus the big market that sells the daily produce and fish.  We like to check that out every time that we head to town.  Kevin especially likes to take a look at the fish.  It is a little difficult to get to good places to go hiking or sight seeing without either hiring a guide or renting a car so we haven’t been able to do much of that.  Which is a bummer because we both love to hike and I know the island is beautiful.  Kevin’s dad, Dave, is coming on the 27th for 2 weeks so we plan on renting a car when he is here and doing a little more of the sight seeing then.

To update our boat situation.  We are batting about 500 with regards to the repairs that needed to be fixed.  Good news is we finally have some power.  We were able to fix the solar panels.  Kevin took the electrical boxed apart and two of the three had water in them and corrosion.  After we got them dried out and new connections/fuses in place we can finally do things like turn on the lights at night without having to run the motor or worry about draining the batteries.  We, and by we I of course mean Kevin because I have no idea about these sorts of things, are pretty sure we got the tiller/rudder problem figured out.  We can now successfully go in reverse without having to throw up sails or break out the oars!  And our final and arguably, depending on who you ask, most exciting news is that Kevin fixed his bear clippers!!  We thought that we had the single sideband working and tuning property but a few days later it was giving us fits again, so not sure about that, and our wind generator still isn’t working.  We know what part of the problem is, but the other part is hiding within the casing and we haven’t been able to get that open yet. 

A few Pictures from our passage from Napier to Tahiti.

Pahto crew right before setting sail.
Looking back at Napier as we sail into the sunset, or as the case may be the afternoon sun!
Pete, a friend we met at the Napier sailing club, sailed out of the harbor with us for the first few hours!
Another shot of Pete and his boat.
Cape Kidnappers, the last piece of land we would see until we reached the South Pacific.
The first fish, an albacore tuna, we caught on our passage.  Perfect size for a small crew and a boat with no refrigeration. 
Shower Day!
Kevin enjoying his shower!! 
Kevin enjoying one of the few nice days we had at sea.
Our friend, Wild Captain Ron, who spent a few days with us resting his feathers.
One of the few days we were able to actually do some cooking.  Pretty sure this was pancake day!
a beautiful sunset at sea just a few hundred miles south of Tahiti.
A storm system off the starboard provided us with a really gorgeous rainbow. 

Bonjour from Tahiti!

Bonjour from Tahiti!  So we got a little off course from our original plans of heading to Chile, but here we are!  And personally I’m enjoying every minute of the sunshine and crystal clear warm water!  We arrived on Sunday just after dark, spent that whole night pulling watches until daylight so we could motor into the lagoon.  We dropped anchor in front of Marina Taina around 6:30am, met with the agent who is helping us check in and out of the country and were eating ice cream by 11am!  The first time in many years I was thankful and excited for a McDonalds, yummm  McFlurry! Marine Taina is about 7 miles down the coast from the city of Papeete.  The marina conveniently boasts TWO bars (well restaurants really, but all we noticed was the tap behind the bar) which we made good use of,  and laundry services (equally as important!) It is also within walking distance of the Mcdonalds and grocery stores.  Since all of French Polynesia speaks well, French I have gotten to put my extremely rusty French speaking skills to the test.  Really not working out as well as I would like, but much better than expected. We plan on taking the next few days to get the boat sorted out and cleaned from our passage before we really start exploring the island.  The only real damper on spending so much time in the tropics is no amount of sunscreen can save me from the sunburn I’m currently sporting.  Kevin tans, I turn red, okay REALLY red.

Although not everything that could have gone wrong on our passage did, but it sure felt like it.  Note: Mom if you are reading this you might want to scroll through this paragraph. 

Passage notes: I will start with the reason we aborted our mission to Chile. After leaving New Zealand, we had great sailing for 2 days I think, then we got gales, one direction then a 12 hour break, and then from another direction. After about 10 days of this a significant amount of free-play began to develop between the rudder and tiller. About all we could really do was monitor the situation, which after every gale was a little bit worse.  Knowing the long passage to Chile would be gales as often as not, and because the situation was deteriorating during every gale we decided it would be best to search out lighter air, and a port where we can make any repairs that may be necessary.  That is the big issue, we are currently working on that problem and hoping it doesn’t cost too much! Now the rest of the casualty list: solar panels, wind generator, freshwater pump, single sideband radio,  even my hair clippers quit! The fridge quit, oh wait, we didn’t have one of those when we left new Zealand, damn. While drifting around waiting for daylight and contemplating the list of things that broke in a few short weeks I was thankful to be somewhere that would have all the items necessary to make repairs, and was happy to know that nothing more should break in the mile between the pass and where we anchored. That is until we dropped the anchor, shift into reverse, pay out rode…oh wait, reverse? What happened, we’re not going backwards, Shit. Launch dinghy, tow boat backwards to set anchor, done. Our electrical problems were all caused by corrosion, which has to happen eventually on a small boat, it just happened all at once to us, but everything can be fixed. We will be working on those items, and enjoying Tahiti since we are here. We will not be sailing for Chile this season, by the time we make all our repairs, we will be too late in the season to actually get to Chile and have any time to cruise. The good news is that I don’t think it is going anywhere, so we will be able to sail there another time.

It might sound like the passage from hell, and in some regards it was, but overall we had a good time. We had a few days of nice weather that we could enjoy being outside, and were going in the right direction. We even caught a few fish, on all 4 days I was able to even attempt fishing! The first one was a nice Albacore. We had been becalmed overnight, and in the morning there was a school of baitfish under the boat, which soon became a school of albacore. Next fish was a nice mahimahi that hit late in the evening, and while it was fun to catch, and it was a beautiful fish we couldn’t be bothered to clean a fish in the dark, and try and preserve it somehow. We prefer to keep only meal sized fish! The third and last fish was also a mahimahi, but this one was really big, and we quick-released him to save having a monster fish thrashing around the cockpit. So given the conditions we had we were happy to catch a few fish, which was more than we expected. The new wind vane performed as well as we had hoped for, but as the free-play problem increased the wind vane performance decreased, but there wasn’t anything we could do about that. We saw and heard no other traffic during our passage, but we passed the island of Rurutu in the Austral group, and while we didn’t get too close we did enjoy the view of a beautiful tropical island for the day.  Another couple of thousand miles have now passed under our keel, and we are happy to have arrived safely somewhere!(Tahiti isn’t the worst place in the world to be stuck in)

The most amazing thing happened during Tom and Liz's trip to California!

On a clear day, you can see.....

amazing things!

Big Day for the Staffords!

This is Liz- reporting in for Kevin and Katie...
Today, December 4, was a huge day on board the Pahto.  First of all, the winds finally died down.  Second, they dined on chicken (OK, it was out of a can) and  corn and peas (OK they had to be rehydrated) for dinner.  And, finally, and best of all- they both TOOK SHOWERS!!!!  Life doesn't get much better than that- at least from their current perspective out in the middle of the Pacific Ocean!
The past 3-4 days have slowed their forward progress quite a bit.  The winds were generally coming out of the east- not at all what they needed or wanted.  All they could do was to lower the sails and put out the sea anchor- and ride it out.  But at least they were able to catch up on some sleep!
Getting those calls when the weather is rough is not easy.  We are just so thankful for the SAT phone- so that we can talk to them even in those "not great" sailing times.  They still are happy to be out there- even when the weather and sailing gets challenging.  And knowing that Kevin is so solid in his sailing knowledge and skills and confidence helps a lot!
Catch you at the next latitude and longitude.

Liz's Post Thanksgiving post

We got a "Happy Thanksgiving" call from Katie and Kevin just before sitting down for our turkey dinner.  So good to hear from them.  They had gone through a period of relative calm- which was good for getting out on deck, cooking some food, and, most importantly- taking a shower!  However, not much wind= not much progress. 

Yesterday, November 26, we got another call.  Tom answered the phone.  "I have to talk to Mom," Katie proclaimed.  Tom handed me the phone.  Katie began the conversation with "Mom, I have a question."  With those 5 words, my heart always skips a beat.  (My mind races, expecting the question to be something like:  "What should I do if I cannot find Kevin?" or "How should I treat a severe sunburn?" or maybe  "How do you cook a 400 lb tuna?")  I take a deep breath and respond, "OK, what is your question?"  Here it is.  This is what she called to ask from the middle of the Pacific Ocean........."Can you give me the recipe for chocolate chip cookies?"  After I let out a sigh of relief and rattled off the recipe, I asked her how she planned to bake those cookies.  As it turns out, she did not plan to bake them at all.  They were going to celebrate the holiday with a batch of chocolate chip cookie dough!

Then, with another gale starting to hit the boat, we hung up.  Here is hoping that they did not get sick!

Catch you at another lat/long coordinate....

K & K's Pre-Thanksgiving post

To all those who might be wondering about the fate of your seagoing friends:

   As you know, we departed Napier with a strong northerly, which soon shifted south, then back to the north the following day, and became somewhat of a small gale. We ran with it for several hours before it eased off and we were able to put the boat back on track. We were on track for about 12 hours before a southerly gale found us. The weather hasn't been terrible, but it leaves us with only two choices: 

1. run with it, or 2. stop all together.  With the crazy weather at these latitudes, we have decided to run north with this system to try and find more westerly winds.

 

We are hoping that we run out of the gale activity in the near future as it is getting pretty old! We have both fallen victims to “rack back” and are getting bored of reading and watching movies and occasionally risking a soaking to peek out of the hatch for a look around. Our diet in these conditions is also less than exciting. Mostly made up of bread rolls, fresh fruit, and some pepparoni sticks. Actually cooking something does not sound appealing at the moment! But, with all of that going on-all is well on board; we are healthy and happy for the most part (slight seasickness aside!).

First "underway" update- by guest blogger

The Captain (Kevin)and Crew (Katie) of the SV Pahto have graciously invited me, Liz Burck (Katie’s Mom) to contribute as a guest blogger to the “Escapades of the Pahto” blog site.  My pleasure. (As long as I can write about their experiences vicariously from my dry, inert couch with a cup of hot coffee in my hand, I’m in!)

As you know, the Pahto, with two souls aboard, sailed from Napier, New Zealand on Monday, November 14 (U.S.).  They hoisted sail on a beautiful afternoon and headed east at about 40 degrees south latitude. 

They had spent the prior few weeks in Napier preparing the boat.  They repaired and/or replaced instruments, tested and retested equipment, and gave her a fresh coat of both paint and varnish. Fresh water and food items were the two packing priorities – and filled every available nook and cranny. The laptop computer had been downloaded with 416 movies and books (give or take!!).  The Captain and Crew got in one final hot shower and, with that, the Pahto- and her crew- were ready for the next sailing adventure!

They said good-bye to the friends they knew- and those they had met while there- from the dock.  But another friend (an older gentleman sailor) jumped into his sailboat and escorted them out to sea.  What a great way to start the trip!

But, within 24 hours, they encountered weather that was less than ideal.  Staying below deck afforded them dry quarters- but no relief from the rolling seas. I am sure that Kevin hardly noticed; but Katie admitted to getting sick those first few days.  Movie watching helped pass the time.  By the time we talked to them- she had acclimated and Kevin still hadn’t noticed.  HA!

We got our first SAT phone call from them on Friday evening, Nov. 18 (U.S.).  I was in the atrium of a large building when I heard my phone ring, glanced at the caller ID window (thinking it was Tom) and realized it was coming in from the Pahto!  I may have vocalized a bit loudly (OK, I screamed like a million-dollar lottery winner) ran outside the building and jumped up and down while I talked to my daughter.  I was actually talking to her on my cell phone from a crowded sidewalk in Virginia while she was 326 miles out in the Pacific Ocean on a small sailboat!  How techno-terrific is THAT!??!!?!?   Sounded like she was just down the street!

We talked again last night (Sunday in U.S.).  Weather had improved enough that they could see the sun.  Katie was even top-side when she called, instead of hanging out of the hatch to get direct line-of-sight to the communications satellite!  The forecast still calls for winds and rain….but not to worry- they still have a few more movies to watch, books to read- and plenty of potatoes and onions to eat!

So, bottom line update- weather could be better, but considering…. all is well.  They are just excited to be out there interacting with the world on a level and from a perspective that few others ever experience.  Kevin is in his niche!

Before I walk the long 33' to my kitchen to refill my coffee cup, Tom and I, along with Kevin’s parents, Dave and Jeannie, wanted to say thank you for sending your love, your “good luck” messages, and your “be safe/have fun” thoughts to the kids. K and K also asked me to say a special thank-you to all of you who sent personal emails to them before they left-they read every one of them!  And to once again repeat the big heart-felt “thank you” to the people in Australia and New Zealand who opened their homes and offered their help and support to them.  (Their parents (us) extend that same huge thanks!  They always talked about how nice everyone was while they were there……)

Catch you at another lat/long coordinate……..

Bon Voyage!

We say goodbye to New Zealand and all our wonderful friends here today.  Customs is coming down to the boat to do the final check out at 11:45 and we set sail for Chile at noon!  This morning we have taken a few moments to write one final update from land before setting sail, but as soon as we are done here we have a busy morning making last minute preparations and running last minute errands.  After the last week of rain we finally got a bright sunny day, and it could not have come at a better time!!  It makes leaving land easier when you aren't already wet!

When we leave here we are aiming to get to Puerto Williams, Chile, the southern most town in the world.  We are hoping to make landfall in 45 days, but that is all weather dependent.  We made our final stores run yesterday and got all the fresh food we will take, lots of potatoes and onions!  We would like to Thanks everyone here in New Zealand for all the support and help that we have received over the past few weeks and months that our boat has been down here.  We will see you all again in the near future!!

keep checking the blog while we are away from land because my parents have generously offered to post updates from us whenever they hear anything. 

More random pictures from Australia and New Zealand…

Dragging our anchor line to clean all the rust off.

Our first Kangaroo sighting!

 

 

Finally some pictures!

From the top of Tamata Peak in Hawks Bay.

Kevin Graeme and Bev having an afternoon beer at “the Rose”

Final Days…

 

We have been spending the past few days putting the final touches and getting everything organized before our departure on Tuesday.  We had a great relaxing weekend with Graeme and Bev who cam over from Auckland.  It was nice to have some good company and not worry about boat projects for a few days!  Today will be finishing up every last minute project we have and packing the boat with all the fresh food we will need/ can pack on the boat.  Our goal is to get as much done today so we don’t have to rush around tomorrow.  We want to make Tuesday as stress free as possible.  We won’t be taking off until late morning, around noon.  that gives us time to sleep in, eat a nice breakfast and put last minute touches on everything.  This is a picture of our boat riddled with labels off of cans.  We take them off so if the cans do end up getting wet and the labels come off they don’t end up clogging up the bilge and making a huge mess.  Here is Kevin working on our outboard motor for our dingy.  a very important piece of equipment.

Getting Close!

With less than two weeks left before out foreseen departure date things seem to be coming along nicely.  The interior of the boat has been cleaned and organized and is awaiting its first load of stores.  We plan to hit up the grocery store tonight for our first shopping trip.  These trips are both fun and dreaded at the same time.  I enjoy the shopping part, but I dread paying the bill at the end.  There isn't enough planning or calculating in the world that can prepare you for trying to buy enough food for 6 months.  We have a well thought out list of all the supplies we think we will need and always second guess when we get to the store: should we get another 5 pounds of rice? do we have enough canned meat?  How much toilet paper do we really need? Do we really need another pound of m&m's?  The only aisle we really really need to spend time in is the chocolate aisle.  As two self diagnosed chochoholics running out two weeks into a six week passage spells disaster and a very long four weeks.  I've already scoped out my secret hiding spots where I can hide the good stuff and I won't have to share with Kevin, unless it comes in handy for bribery after he is out! 

There are really just three major things that need to happen on deck before we take off: finish the windvane, finish the varnishing and finish painting the cockpit.  After those three things happen we will be more or less ready to take off.  Of course we could spend the next year working on the boat 7 days a week and never run out of things to do, but we'll just finish the things that HAVE to be taken care and get on the road. 

We have been able to get the boat out a few times in the past week for a sail!  Once to test the new windvane.  It works like a beauty!  We are so excited to have this new piece of equipment and will be able to sleep easier knowing it is steering the boat!  The second time was for the Wednesday night beer can races.  on an average week there are only about five boats that participate.  However, none of them have a windvane, wind generator or outboard hanging of the stern.  Even with all that we didn't come in last, so all in all it was a successful day of racing!  It helps that it was a beautiful evening! 

Go All Blacks!

What an amazing night to be in New Zealand!! It was so much fun to watch the rugby world cup at East Pier especially since we won!  Go All Blacks!! 

Progress?

The boat is back in the water now. The new Monitor windvane hanging off the back of the boat, almost complete. We just need some good weather to go out for a test sail before we put the finishing touches on. We also put a fresh antifouling on the bottom, and even had the prop finished with "propspeed"(antifouling for props and shafts). While the boat was hauled I discovered a hole in the water trap for the exhaust.(main engine cooling system) Thankfully I found it and we were able to get it welded up and reinstalled with new anodes without losing much time.


With the boat floating we are again working on putting the interior back together, shedding a few pounds in the process. When we left seattle we loaded everything we thought we might need for cruising on the boat. Now with a little bit of experience(and some new technology) we have decided that we don't need so much stuff on board(100lbs. of books..really?) This will make room for some other items we think are necessary for the next leg of the cruise; A drogue, a third anchor, and a water bladder.

We are currently hoping the weather improves enough that we can get our outside projects complete, namely touch up painting and varnishing(the fun stuff). Regardless of weather, we are planning on participating in the local wednesday evening beer can racing. Even if we aren't the fastest boat on the course, I do believe we get some style points for racing with: A dodger, a windvane, an outboard hanging on the pulpit, 300ft. of anchor chain, solar panels, wind generator, and all the other things that boats have when you cruise them around the world, that boats don't ever have when you are racing!

general update...

Hello everyone!  Kevin and I are excited to be starting the next leg of our adventure!  We will try to keep this updated as much as possible, which should not be a problem over the next month while we are on land, but will become infinitly more difficult after we pull out of port.  Just to get everyone up to speed we are now in Napier, New Zealand and have been for the last week and a half.  We have been putting in long days on the boat trying to get it offshore ready.  Right now we have the boat out of the water primarily so we could put another coat of bottom paint on and get our new wind vane mounted, but also to take care of other minor projects easier done out of the water.  Getting the new wind vane is probably one of the most exciting things that has happened (it's real pretty and shiny) and is much sturdier than our previous wind vane. 

Today we got to do some off roading with our rental car.  Our anchor chain was rusted and before we can get it regalvanized we had to get the rust off.  Enter rental care.  Mission: find a dirt road, far enough out of town and away from the main drag as to not draw too much attention, and go crazy!  we spent a good 45 mins dragging the anchor chain behind the car.  It came out much less rusty, but much more dirty - an easier fix!  Now the chain is off getting a nice new bath, ie getting galvanized. 

We've been hard at work on the interior as well.  We decided to give her a nice new interior paint job and it really looks amazing.  Kevin is not sure when the last pain job on the interior was done but it hasn't been since we've owned it. We also cleaned and oiled all of the teak!  the boat is really starting to come together!

Hopefully we can get the boat in shape in the next week, giving us plenty of time to do some siteseeing while we are here.  We made one trip over to Taupo, about two hours away, to pick up our wind vane.  Kevin had it delivered to his friends, Tom and Polly's, house.  We had a wonderful afternoon chatting with Polly. Taupo is a georgous little town right on Lake Taupo, apparenly New Zealands largest lake.  We also spent a few days when we first arrived in Auckland with Kevin's other friends, Bev and Graham. They were very generous to pick us up from the airport and let us stay with them for a few days.  We had a fantastic time catching up with them and doing a bit of siteseeing!    Before we made the jump over to New Zealand we spent a week on the sunshine coast of Australia with Jack and Marlene, a couple Kevin met while sailing in the South Pacific last year.  That week was amazing both because our hosts are amazing people and because of the wonderful site we got to see while over there.  Within an hour of landing I saw my first Kangaroo (and it was wild, not in a zoo), how amazing!  While in Napier we have been staying with another of Kevin's wonderful friends down here, Eva.  She was been great to us not only on this trip but on other trips Kevin has made down here she has graciously offered him, now us, a place to stay!  Australia/New Zealand have some amazing people and beautiful sites!  We are so happy to be down here and getting this opportunity but are looking forward to getting back home to see our families!