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Tintin - Tuamotos
Tintin - Tuamotos
Tintin - Tuamotos
Tintin - Tuamotos
Tintin - Tuamotos
Tintin - Tuamotos
17/04/2019

Sweet Dream - Day 92 April 15, 2019

We awoke to perfection. Then the guys started calculating slack water times at the pass and we realised we had to leave no later than noon to make it to Pakokota to spend the night, sigh.......At least we squeezed in one more paddle and exploration of the pink sandy motus. Lars inquired about the kite boarding school, I planted a shell garden and soaked up rays, enjoying the pristine solitude of the beach. Back at thebig boat, dingy stowed, kayaks lashed, anchor up, lunch eaten....we were on our way. Had a very pleasant sail to Pakokota. Dropped the hook and ate a lovely dinner enjoying the sunset from our cockpit. I’m sad to be leaving Fakarava....this is a gorgeous place. We decided we had to come back here on our Sweet Dream.image1.. read more...


Sweet Dream - Day 92 April 15, 2019
Sweet Dream - Day 92 April 15, 2019
Mares Tail - The Bubbly Pool, J. V..D
Mares Tail - The Bubbly Pool, J. V..D
16/04/2019

Mares Tail - Two weeks to go

We have been enjoying our 30 days in the Virgin Islands. Loving Little Jost Van Dyke, especially the Bubbly Pool and Foxy’s Taboo beach bar.Ethna Haines. read more...


17/04/2019

Sweet Dream - Day 91 April 14,2019

This day found us sailing into the wind towards true paradise. We arrived at Hirifa, the pink sand bay in the south east corner of Fakarava.We anchored In 29 feet of water over lovely sand that caught and held in the first try! No bees, no flies, no mosquitoes here in absolute nirvana. If we had had enough water I could have stayed here a month. It was so beautiful. Palm trees waved from the sandy shore, pink sand and bottle green water beckoned just west of us. A friendly guy named Joe dropped by and said not to miss snorkelling on the marker. After we were confident of the anchor set we piled into the dinghy and went out to the marker. Lars snorkelled, I used the glass bottom bucket. Beauty was appreciated all around. We met another American couple who told us we couldn’t skip Toau.. read more...


Sweet Dream - Day 91 April 14,2019
Sweet Dream - Day 91 April 14,2019
16/04/2019

Cassiopée W - Log for April 14th 2019 - The magic of the Marquesas

La magie des MarquisesCe soir nous en sommes à la troisième nuit de notre traversée vers les atolls des Tuamotu. Depuis notre départ, le vent est à 60 degrés et il souffle entre 15-20 kts ce qui rend cette traversée un peu plus inconfortable qu’à l’habitude. Il y a également beaucoup d’imprévus à cause de petites cellules orageuses parsemées un peu partout sur notre route. La magie des Marquises est maintenant loin derrière et elle fait désormais partie de nos souvenirs. Ses montagnes majestueuses de formes inusitées, sa magnifique végétation tropicale et ses parfums de fleurs exotiques sont quelques-uns des souvenirs de ces îles idylliques que nous garderons dans nos cœurs . Les contrastes et l’intensité des couleurs qu’on y a retrouvés étaient à couper le souffle. Ses paysages, sa. read more...


Cassiopée W - Log for April 14th 2019 - The magic of the Marquesas
Cassiopée W - Log for April 14th 2019 - The magic of the Marquesas
15/04/2019

Endo 2 - Marquesas

Nun waren wir schon auf den Marquesas - einWort nur bekannt aus Reiseberichten anderer. Was für ein Traum. Und die Inseln sind erstaunlich. Sie sind bergig - von wegen Südsee = weißer Strand, Palmen, Meer. Hier ist es grün, braun, hügelig, bergig, Palmen, Wälder, Strand, Fels, Buchten zum Ankern, Buchten zum Baden- einfach traumhaft. Die Leute sind sehr nett und alle haben Zeit. Die Inseln haben nicht so viele Einwohner und es findet sich schnell ein ruhiges Plätzchen. Überall wird gegrüßt und jeder hat ein nettes Wort für einen. Auf den Inseln wird Französisch gesprochen - zu meinem Leidwesen. Doch auch mit Englisch sind wir gut vorangekommen und dann gibt es ja noch Hände,Handys und jede Menge Wörterbücher. Wir haben nur 2 der Inseln besucht - beide waren schön - jede auf ihre Art.. read more...


15/04/2019

Hawkeye - 1st Hawkeye blog entry

Hawkeye is now back afloat at her home berth in Portosole, San Remo, Italy, after a winter’s refit – and nearly ready to go!It will be a sad day when we finally leave San Remo for the last time at the end of June. We plan to spend a week or two on the Cote D’Azur before crossing to Calvi in Corsica, then down to the Costa Smeralda in North East Sardinia for the rest of July and August. It’s the Balearics for September and early October then Gibraltar and Grand Canaria by early November.All four of us – Peter, Jane, Alexandra and Richard – are incredibly excited! We’ve all crossed the Atlantic before, together, in a Lagoon 560 catamaran in the ARC 2015.Cheers from Hawkeye!ARC flag with Peter and Jane Richard ARC Flag Alexandra ARC Flag. read more...


Hawkeye - 1st Hawkeye blog entry
Hawkeye - 1st Hawkeye blog entry
Hawkeye - 1st Hawkeye blog entry
Hawkeye - 1st Hawkeye blog entry
Sweet Dream - Day 89 April 12, 2019
Sweet Dream - Day 89 April 12, 2019
14/04/2019

Sweet Dream - Day 89 April 12, 2019

Today we made land fall through the north pass of Fakarava. There was a bit of current, but no problem for 100 horses to handle. We anchored off the town of Rotaova. Helmut and Barbara on Babsea invited us over for a welcome drink, then we came back to our boat for supper of grilled tuna. Chao Lay had already gone ahead to Pakakota, so we figured we’d catch up with them tomorrow. It was a very calm place to anchor, though we were on a 4:1 scope with all our chain out because of the deep water. If the wind had built, we would have moved, but it stayed calm til we left the next day. We had a calm night on the Sweet Dream.image1.. read more...


Hawkeye - 1st Hawkeye blog entry
Hawkeye - 1st Hawkeye blog entry
14/04/2019

Misto - April12-13 2019: Finished at last!

It’s with a huge sense of achievement that Misto is back in Rodney Bay and we have celebrated the official end of the World Arc.The parade of sail from Marigot Bay to Rodney Bay was a little challenging in high blustery winds and the circuit around Castries Harbour had to be abandoned due to the late entry of a cruise ship.But we all arrived safely in Rodney Bay and the celebrations began.Drinks on the dock and a great evening celebration heralded the end of this odyssey.It certainly begs the question “what next?”We are planning a summer sailing with our club in North Carolina, the Neuse Sailing Association, a winter in South Africa, boat maintenance and then joining ARC Europe next May.But as some friends from WARC 2017 said, our plans are written in the sand at low tide.To everyone we. read more...


Misto - 2017-2019 WARC crews celebrating on Misto in Marigot Bay
Misto - 2017-2019 WARC crews celebrating on Misto in Marigot Bay
Misto - 2017-2019 WARC crews celebrating on Misto in Marigot Bay
Misto - 2017-2019 WARC crews celebrating on Misto in Marigot Bay
Sweet Dream - Day 90 April 13, 2019
Sweet Dream - Day 90 April 13, 2019
17/04/2019

Sweet Dream - Day 90 April 13, 2019

In the morning after stocking up on drinking water and picking up some potatoes and carrots and fresh bread, we raised the hook and bid farewell to the village. We still have 100 gallons of salty water from the water maker’s last days in our tanks for showering and washing dishes, so with the bottled water for drinking, we feel more comfortable and able to enjoy a little bit of this beautiful atoll. The journey to Pakokota was uneventful, but we decided to anchor, rather than trust our 30 tons to a dubious mooring. We motored all around and found a place with few coral heads in 35 feet. Lars dove on the anchor after it was set and verified we were well hooked. In the afternoon we kayaked past the southern point of the bay over myriad kinds of pretty coral inhabited by small colourful. read more...


12/04/2019

Smoke and Roses - Escape To Devil's Island

Leg 17 Total Distance 2034 Nautical MilesFirst Half of Leg Logged 1061 Nautical Miles, 7 Days 6.5 Hours171 Hours and 40 Minutes Sailing, 80 Minutes Motoring March 8 – 15Cabedelo, Brazil to Devil’s Island, French Guiana Leg 17 from Cabedelo, Brazil to Grenada is the last leg of our World ARC Cruise, we will sail for 2034 nautical miles from the South Atlantic, across the equator into the North Atlantic and then the Caribbean Sea with an optional 24 hour stop at Devil’s Island, eight miles off the coast of French Guiana.The French penal colony known as Devil’s Island was established in 1852, it’s a network of tiny seemingly serene islands that have been mostly forgotten about by the rest of the world…unimaginable things happened here. Over a period of nearly 100 years around 70,000. read more...


12/04/2019

Misto - April 5-11 2019: Tobago Cays, Mustique and St Lucia

We spent a very bumpy day and night at Tobago Cays.It really is a most beautiful spot where you can anchor behind the reef with nothing else between your boat and Africa, but on this occasion it was not comfortable.In the company of Anita and Steve from Timshel we dinghied to the beach, had a picnic lunch and snorkeled in the turtle area.However visibility was not very clear as the waves were disturbing the sand.After a very uncomfortable night we departed early for Mustique, however with the angle of the wind we ended up putting into Canuan for a few hours hoping that the afternoon wind would swing around a little and ease.In the afternoon, with two reefs in, we managed to sail over to Mustique.Mustique is a private island made famous by Princess Margaret in the 1960’s and 70’s. Now it. read more...


Sweet Dream - Day 88 April 11, 2019
Sweet Dream - Day 88 April 11, 2019
20/04/2019

Sweet Dream - Day 88 April 11, 2019

Today was an exercise in the “flip side” of paradise.Our watermaker said “sayonara”, our line for pumping out black water broke, and a smelly boobie bird had camped out in our dinghy overnight, leaving an incredible mess behind. Captain spent eight hours on the first two projects. The black water line is back together, the tank is cleaned out, various parts of the boat are now squeaky clean. Alas, the watermaker...weighing in at fourteen years old, has given up the ghost for good. The crew voted quire vehemently to go straight to Tahiti for replacement, the Captain wants to dive with sharks in Fakarava. Captain trumps crew every time.We are still planning to stop in the Tuamotus. The best part of the day was catching a fat tuna at 16:45. Unfortunately, we couldn’t raise Chao Lay on the. read more...


11/04/2019

Charm - Tuamotos again, 3

We did not think it would take this long to go 500 miles but, here we are, on our fourth night at sea, unfortunately with very little wind again.We have revamped our plans yet again and scratched the idea of visiting more than one atoll before reaching Fakarava, where our friends have a flight booked for April 14.Unusually, we are trying to slow down ( or difficult in light winds) so we don’t reach the atoll until daybreak.These atolls are really just circles of land surrounding a lagoon (I think where a volcano used to be).We can’t anchor on the outside because it is thousands of feet deep off the edge of the atoll.The lagoons are more like 15-40 feet deep.In order to get inside, we have to pass through a pass in the land.These passes vary in length and twistyness as well as current.It. read more...


Charm - Tuamotos again, 3
Charm - Tuamotos again, 3
10/04/2019

Tintin - Takaroa

We're now on passage overnight from Takaroa to Fakarava, passing closeto Apataki.All these islands are atolls, which I would find hard tobelieve could exist if I hadn't seen them.Atolls form whenmountainous volcanic islands like the Marquesas develop coral reefsaround their coasts - like Tahiti.The central volcanic islandsis gradually eroded as coral keeps being added to the reef leading,over countless millenia, to these strange shaped islands.They areanything from about 5 to 50miles around, thin bands of reef and verylow-lying sandy land encircling a lagoon.The strips of land('motus') are invariably narrow, typically 100-200m but can stretch formany miles around the lagoon, often interspered with gaps where thereis just reef - sea between 0 and 3foot deep. Most islands have'passes' -. read more...


Tintin - Takaroa
Tintin - Takaroa
10/04/2019

Charm - Tuamotos 2

It’s another gorgeous, star-filled night on the Pacific Ocean.We have had light winds since leaving Nuku Hiva so have been doing more motoring than sailing.Today we did some school and some boat exploration.Cobin and Willie went up the mast to the first and second spreaders and Tully, Sam, Susannah, and Willie “dangled” on halyards off the bow.During our afternoon class on ecosystems, we learned that what seemed like a simple question, “What would happen to ecosystems if the sun went away?” was actually more complex.Willie immediately brought up deep sea environments where no creatures rely on the sun to create energy and then Susannah wandered through and asked if she could give a five-minute lesson on the two things needed by all life forms.Yes, it was only five minutes but, wow,. read more...


Charm - Tuamotos 2
Charm - Tuamotos 2
Charm - Tuamotos 2
Charm - Tuamotos 2
14/04/2019

Sweet Dream - Day 87 April 10, 2019

The morning dawned in a rosy glow. Big puffy clouds sailed above us in the scorching arc of the sky, doing nothing to mitigate the heat.All day we sailed slowly in a mere breath of wind that started from the south and backed 180 degrees to the north, then stalled out completely at dusk. We snacked, we napped, we read. Captain did a couple of projects. It was hot and flat, this is good weather for entering atolls...no wind equals no significant waves. We are halfway to Fakarava. No fish, not even flying fish or squid to be seen. We have seen sooty grey boobie birds winging over checking out our lures, and one little black and white twinkling bird, and one long tailed pure white tropic bird. What ever is it doing soo far away from shore? It’s flapping wings seem silly, proclaiming it as. read more...


Sweet Dream - Day 87 April 10, 2019
Sweet Dream - Day 87 April 10, 2019
11/04/2019

Sweet Dream - Day 86 April 9, 2019

Impressions of this journey so far....Nothing can effectively convey the stunning beauty of Ua Poa in the glow of sunset. It looked like an mediaeval castle floating in the clouds, with the diadem of spires shining in the last light of day. Ua Poa is hauntingly enchanting, and we were so lucky to see her with her crown clear of clouds. But, alas, we are not visiting that gorgeous island this time around. We plow on with sails up and motor running. Chai Lay a half mile to Starboard, also motor sailing. Dolphins came at dusk, first we could hear their snorting and blowing, then their forms were visible cutting through the steel grey water as they cavorted around the bow wake. Such a delight! The night brought fantastic star gazing after moon tucked in early, and morning brought clouds but. read more...


Sweet Dream - Day 86 April 9, 2019
Sweet Dream - Day 86 April 9, 2019
09/04/2019

Charm - Leaving the Marquesas for the Tuamotos

Hello!Many stories to tell but I will start with just updating you.We have left the Marquesas and are on another passage of about 3 days.This time we are going to the Tuamoto Island group.After leaving the Galapagos, we spent two weeks at sea, landing in Hiva Oa, an island in the Marquesas island group.The Marquesas are part of French Polynesia, which contains (I think), five island groups.We visited the Marquesas, are on our way to the Tuamotos, and will also be in Tahiti, which is part of the Society Islands. In the Marquesas, we visited four islands – Hiva Oa, Tahuata, Nuku Hiva, and Ua Pou.All of them are lush, green places with high rocky pillars jutting straight up out of the sea.After two weeks at sea, and with more sea to cross with even less civilization ahead of us (the. read more...


Sweet Dream - Day 85 April 8, 2019
Sweet Dream - Day 85 April 8, 2019
11/04/2019

Sweet Dream - Day 85 April 8, 2019

Our last day in the Marquesas. Lars met with the skippers of Chao Lay and Danica. After deliberation and discussion, Mike of Chao Lay, and Lars decided to go ahead and start for the Tuamotus today. Danica would follow and plan to meet us in Fakarava next week. We readied the boat for offshore, tying down the kayaks, hoisting the dinghy on the davits, putting stuff away inside, checking the rigging, and running preventer lines for the main boom. After lunch, we napped. In the early afternoon Chao Lay lifted anchor and we followed suit, dumping buckets of water on the chain to wash off the thick mud that provides such excellent holding in this bay. It unfortunately also makes the bay completely unappealing to swim in. So, while we actually rate this spot as one of our top ten beautiful. read more...


Charm - Leaving the Marquesas for the Tuamotos
Charm - Leaving the Marquesas for the Tuamotos
Charm - Leaving the Marquesas for the Tuamotos
Charm - Leaving the Marquesas for the Tuamotos
Sweet Dream - Day 84 April 7, 2019
Sweet Dream - Day 84 April 7, 2019
11/04/2019

Sweet Dream - Day 84 April 7, 2019

Today we hiked to the lovely waterfall behind Hakatea, aka , Daniel’s bay. Glen was still nursing a bruised foot, so he stayed behind, but Mary enthusiastically joined us. The weather, for this part of the world was perfect...overcast, but no rain, slight breeze. There hasn’t been much rain here lately as the dry season is just ending, so all the river crossings were much easier than it was the first time we did this hike four years ago. One starts out strolling through a fruit orchard rich with pomplemouse, limon, orange, guava, papaya, avocado, banana and coconut. After awhile, the ancient “ king’s highway” appears beneath your feet, and for miles and miles you walk between its old stones, marvelling at the bone pits, pei pies, Maires, walls and various platforms. The sound of the. read more...


07/04/2019

Tintin - Off we go again

We are delighted that plans made nearly year ago have worked and Paddy,Lizzie, James and Bridget have made it to this side of the world tojoin us for a few weeks. Tintin is full and ready to go! The lureof exploring coral atolls has led us to wave the incredibleMarquesas goodbye.Two days ago we set off from Nuku Hiva, to cross 500 miles ofSouth Pacific Ocean to reach the Tuamotu archipelago. These islands arealso part of French Polynesia. They are low lying coral atolls: eachisland looks like a slightly squidged circle on the chart. The inside islagoon, the edge is coral reef, some of it a few metres above the highwater line with beaches, coconut palms and maybe a village. Some arejust a couple of miles across, others up to 50.We are heading for Kauehi, an atoll with one entrance (or. read more...


11/04/2019

Sweet Dream - Day 83 April 6, 2019

We spent the morning getting a few fresh items, had one last WiFi session at Yacht Services Quay. Can’t say enough good about Kevin and Yacht Services. Just an excellent operation, so helpful to cruisers. We used Kevin as our agent the first time we came to a French Polynesia, and hope to see him again, the next time around. Mid morning we lifted the hook and motored out of the bay, intending to make water on the way to Daniel’s bay to the west, but the water maker wanted more power than the engine alternator was delivering, so in a burst of inspiration, Captain hoisted the main, hove-to, and put the genset on. We literally just sat rocking in the swell for three and a half hours and made enough water to last our sojourn at Daniel’s bay. When we had enough water, we put the sail away and. read more...


Sweet Dream - Day 83 April 6, 2019
Sweet Dream - Day 83 April 6, 2019
06/04/2019

Sweet Dream - Day 82 April 5, 2019

Another rainy, rolly night in Taiohae bay, Nuka Hiva. We had deployed a stern anchor, which holds our nose into the swell, but does nothing to compensate for the swell ricocheting off the shore at a completely contrary angle. We braved the swell, though after a conversation with the fuel dock saying this morning it would be possible to fill our tank, but not Saturday, when we wanted to go. O.K. We tied the dinghy to our stern anchor, upped the main anchor, motored to the fuel dock, manoeuvred into position, dropped the bow anchor and slowly backed towards the dock. Tossed long stern lines to the very capable fuel worker, who secured us to the frightening eight foot high dock with surf smashing into it and swell making the boat dance between her three tether points. We took up the bow. read more...


Sweet Dream - Day 82 April 5, 2019
Sweet Dream - Day 82 April 5, 2019