Sailing the South Pacific

[pnwer]

The first time I was in Hakatea was '89. You may have heard it referred to as Daniels bay, at least the eastern arm. I visited with Daniel several times - he was very welcoming to yachties. He had a misbehaving Evinrude outboard which by coincidence I had some spare parts for. With a bit of fiddling, a new condenser and sparkplug I managed to get the thing working. Daniel was delighted and asked me if I would like some pork. Not thinking and frankly being a bit short of meat due to no fridge and no cash,  I responded that yes I would like some. He gestured for me to follow and whistled for his dogs. I naively thought he must have some meat nearby. Even after 25 mins of spirited climbing following his dogs the reality of the situation still did not dawn on me. Only when we chased after the baying hounds and sprinted into a small break in the bush to find the dogs latched on to a pig did reality break into my brain. Within 30 seconds or so Daniel had run to the pig and cut its throat with a knife, leaving me a bit shocked. A swift gutting later muggins here was charged with carrying the bloody, stinking carcass back down the steep hill. There were no flies on Daniel, unlike myself that day. I ended up with a sizeable portion of pork, which even after we used up much of our remaining gas to cook was so tough that I dislocated one side of my jaw attempting to chew. Our time in the Tuamotus was for me coloured with liquid food muscle spasms, Panadol and anti-inflammatory medication. I was eventually  treated by a very glamourous French doctor in Papeete who popped my jaw back in and to whom I am still extremely grateful.

I have been back several times, and of course Daniel is long gone. If you are still in Taiohae then pay Rose Corser a visit and see her excellent small museum. She is very knowledgeable about Marquisian history and especially of that valley and the Vaipo waterfall and the chieftaness who led her people above the falls rather than submit to the French.

What a great story!

 

[Startracker]

I finally did it. 2.5 years after buying Sea Change, a 1989 Pacific Seacraft Crealock 34, hull number 124, in Panamá, after getting chased out by COVID shutdown and having shoulder cuff surgery, and transiting the canal, I set sail from La Playita marina on Friday April 1, an auspicious day to do so, and sailed single-handed to Taiopae in Nuku Hiva in the Marquesas, French Polynesia. It was everything I dreamed it would be and more. I had an absolute blast, broke things and fixed them, especially my essential Pacific Windpilot wind vane, swam in 12000ft, survived thunderstorms, squalls, and calms, caught lots of fish, lost 20 pounds, had some amazing trade wind sailing, and did the roughly 4000 miles in 37 days. Now I have three months to enjoy these islands before heading on west to parts uncertain, marred only by getting my iPhone wet and fried and losing all my pics and videos before I had backed them up, shit!

That's awesome!  For future reference, if you are quick with the tools, rip the case open, yank the battery and rinse with distilled water, lots of it.  Then bag in rice.  99% isopro works too most of the time.  In a pinch with no tools, I've gotten lucky a couple times with friends phones immediately after the swim, blowing them out with dry air and immediately connecting, never had luck >4 hours after swim though.  If you do the above and then hand it to someone good with such things and pay them some dollars when it's possible and you will usually retain your data.  You might, MIGHT get lucky but probably not and get the data off of it still.  I was once that lucky with a hard drive that got wet, fried the board.  I rinsed it with alcohol, and the person who was fixing it figured out they could swap the board and maybe get lucky.  It got me back years of photos.   Alternatively for next time, go android and set it to store photos to external SD card, worst case if it goes for a swim pop the chip immediately.  The biggest game changer for me was when apple started making waterproof phones, my new phone a year went down to 4 ish years so far.  Congrats on the trip!! What was your favorite/least favorite part?  Best meal?  Fishing tips?  Best bit of gear?  Most useless bit of gear?  Sounds like an amazing adventure!  Written stories are amazing too pictures or no! 

In that case today is whatever day the captain says it is. Of course it is all just superstitious BS, however I always figured departing Friday meant there was some haste and urgency. Both of those can attract the real gremlins. Plus one runs the risk of missing Friday night action in the bars. 

Friday's are just bad in general, and the rushing that happens contributes, I think that's sometimes due to stores being closed on weekends so you overlook/rush.  In construction/trades always seems like the day people get hurt too.  The amount of re-work, injuries to employees and stress in my life dropped immensely when I went to Friday being a clean up and prep for the next week no billable work day.   Much harder to fuck something up with a broom or mop.  I was second guessing myself the first month, but if there's ever a day of the week people produce lower quality, it's Friday. 

 

[El Borracho]

That's awesome!  For future reference, if you are quick with the tools, rip the case open, yank the battery and rinse with distilled water, lots of it.  Then bag in rice.  99% isopro works too most of the time.  In a pinch with no tools, I've gotten lucky a couple times with friends phones immediately after the swim, blowing them out with dry air and immediately connecting, never had luck >4 hours after swim though.  If you do the above and then hand it to someone good with such things and pay them some dollars when it's possible and you will usually retain your data.  You might, MIGHT get lucky but probably not and get the data off of it still.  I was once that lucky with a hard drive that got wet, fried the board.  I rinsed it with alcohol, and the person who was fixing it figured out they could swap the board and maybe get lucky.  It got me back years of photos.   Alternatively for next time, go android and set it to store photos to external SD card, worst case if it goes for a swim pop the chip immediately.  The biggest game changer for me was when apple started making waterproof phones, my new phone a year went down to 4 ish years so far.  Congrats on the trip!! What was your favorite/least favorite part?  Best meal?  Fishing tips?  Best bit of gear?  Most useless bit of gear?  Sounds like an amazing adventure!  Written stories are amazing too pictures or no! 

Friday's are just bad in general, and the rushing that happens contributes, I think that's sometimes due to stores being closed on weekends so you overlook/rush.  In construction/trades always seems like the day people get hurt too.  The amount of re-work, injuries to employees and stress in my life dropped immensely when I went to Friday being a clean up and prep for the next week no billable work day.   Much harder to fuck something up with a broom or mop.  I was second guessing myself the first month, but if there's ever a day of the week people produce lower quality, it's Friday. 

Also, on on more relaxed islands a sailor is likely to find one of the government offices closed early Friday … long lunch … or whatever. So the checking out must wait until Monday. 

 

[TheDragon]

Thanks for that story of Daniel, kiwin, I had learned about him from a new friend here, an Australian named Ian Watson, now in his 70s, who is completing finally his second circumnavigation on his home-built massive 53 ft ketch Jasamine. Apparently Daniel was very friendly to visiting cruisers back in the 89s and 90s, his son now less so. You now pay 1000francs for the walk to the waterfall, dry the day I went, and can get lunch or dinner at a home for another 1000. Amazing slow-cooked marinated tuna steak for me. 
 

 

[TheDragon]

Thanks Stargazer, but I want to hold out a little hope of recovering my flash memory. About the trip, my favorite part was the last three weeks of almost dead downwind sailing between 9 and 10S, the worst being the day north of the Galapagos when both my Windpilot and autopilot went down. You can see my track on the Pacific Puddle Jump website, it is eventually the most southerly one. Best meal was tuna sashimi just north of the Galapagos. Best gear was my repaired Pacific Windpilot that would steer for days without adjustment. I can’t think of any useless gear unless you include things like pressure cookers left by POs, or the safety harnesses, which are so cumbersome I preferred on the two occasions I felt the need for  wearing gear to be my old comfortable rock climbing harness plus short and long climbing slings with carabiners and a connected kitesurfing life jacket with PLB in pocket. And I have yet to use my asymmetrical spinnaker or any of my kiting gear, but will in the Tuamotus and beyond.

 

[kiwin]

In the Tuamotus, one of the best stops is to visit with Valentine & Gaston at Anse Amiot. Just unique people in a unique place. Kind of a sail-in cafe restaurant in a bay in the outer reef of Toeau atoll. 

 

[TheDragon]

I have heard of them, kiwin, thanks. Right now I am sailing back and forth outside the pass for Mokema, which is flowing out fast. I have an experienced guy on a big ketch nearby who will eventually go first and give me some Intel. My first atoll pass and it looks terrifying right now.

 

[TheDragon]

Well, that did not go well. I spent three days going back and forth trying to get into Makemo atoll, finally getting into the deserted north pass late on the third day. Anchored blind in 80 feet, trapped on coral for two days before breaking free. Headed to north pass of Fakarava atoll, amazing sailing, easy pass, and town of Rotoava is lovely. Next my wife and daughter arrive for a week and we will sail down to the south pass for some diving and nearby Hirifa motu for kitesurfing.

 

[mckenzie.keith]

Well, that did not go well. I spent three days going back and forth trying to get into Makemo atoll, finally getting into the deserted north pass late on the third day. Anchored blind in 80 feet, trapped on coral for two days before breaking free. Headed to north pass of Fakarava atoll, amazing sailing, easy pass, and town of Rotoava is lovely. Next my wife and daughter arrive for a week and we will sail down to the south pass for some diving and nearby Hirifa motu for kitesurfing.

What do you mean "trapped on coral?" You mean the anchor chain was stuck? You weren't aground on a coral head were you?

 

[TheDragon]

Correct, anchor and chain caught. I have learnt my lesson, but it was a rough start to the Tuamotus. I have now gone through five more passes on Fakarava and Tahanea without major issue, and either taken mooring balls or anchored in clear sand, only once needing to float the chain to avoid nearby coral heads. It has been a blast. I'm currently back in Fakarava for a couple weeks kitesurfing and snorkelling, maybe pay for a scuba drift dive, but have done several solo and group drift snorkels of the south pass at Fakarava and passes at Tahanea. Just wish my introduction to the atolls was easier. It is still very hard to get the timing of the passes right unless someone anchored near a pass or just gone through will help with information about slack tide times via VHF. I left Tahanea yesterday afternoon on a serious ebb tide when it was supposed to be high tide slack, and entered the south pass of Fakarava this morning against a strong ebb when it was supposed to be low tide slack, so I still have some learning to do. Otherwise all good and I have one more month here.

 

[TheDragon]

Here is a screenshot of my track in the Tuamotus, you can see my several attempts at Makemo atoll, then I sailed to the North pass a Fakarava, went back and fourth to the south area, later out the south pass to Tahanea, and today back to Fakarava.

 

[Zonker]

Look on the windward site of any of the atolls and pick up some hard plastic fishing net floats. About the size of a basketball. Because they are rigid they are good for floating chain (do not collapse under water like fenders). And you're doing the world a good turn by collecting them before they break into smaller bits of plastic.

 

[TheDragon]

Indeed Zonker, I have found two and will use them the next time I need to float my anchor chain. I also found a strange contraption, a floating net made of bamboo bound into a square, covered with black netting, all floated by about 8 large yellow polystyrene floats, but with what appears to be a satellite tracker tightly bound into the entire thing. It had a label inside the sealed unit, about the size of a large pot, saying "Tuna 8 Explorer" and a serial number, and on the outside the hints of a name and number, 'Maria Jose" and "2146". A very strange mixture of low and high tech, but something to do with tuna fishing, it is a "sounding" unit with satellite transmission, perhaps trying to locate schools of tuna? Here's the website - https://www.environmental-expert.com/products/tuna-explorer-model-8-satellite-buoy-646915

 

[toddster]

Would like to see a photo of that lash-up!

 

[Septic]

It sounds like a FAD (Fish Aggregation Device).

You sort or have the right concept except it is more they leave it drifting around for a while and then go find it again (hence the sat transmitter), looks like the Tuna 8 is the latest tech allowing them to check if there are fish under the FAD and potentially even identify the size of the fish.

Our poor oceans never stood a chance

 

[kiwin]

Atolls ARE hard. My friend Alvah Simon always says that an atoll is 360⁰ of lee shore. Plus they are deep and littered with coral heads. I always carry a dive tank etc and have spent too much time unwrapping chain. Having said that, it's much much easier now with GPS than it ever was with a sextant....

 

[Not My Real Name]

I finally did it. 2.5 years after buying Sea Change, a 1989 Pacific Seacraft Crealock 34, hull number 124, in Panamá, after getting chased out by COVID shutdown and having shoulder cuff surgery, and transiting the canal, I set sail from La Playita marina on Friday April 1, an auspicious day to do so, and sailed single-handed to Taiopae in Nuku Hiva in the Marquesas, French Polynesia. It was everything I dreamed it would be and more. I had an absolute blast, broke things and fixed them, especially my essential Pacific Windpilot wind vane, swam in 12000ft, survived thunderstorms, squalls, and calms, caught lots of fish, lost 20 pounds, had some amazing trade wind sailing, and did the roughly 4000 miles in 37 days. Now I have three months to enjoy these islands before heading on west to parts uncertain, marred only by getting my iPhone wet and fried and losing all my pics and videos before I had backed them up, shit!

Well done.

And Zonker is spot on - linger in the Tuamotus. With hindsight, I'd have traded all our time in Bora Bora for another couple of days in Fakarava or Makemo.

 

[kiwin]

And yes I would agree. The Tuamotus are the best part. Vavau and Haapai in Tonga are also fantastic...

 

[Jud - s/v Sputnik]

Look on the windward site of any of the atolls and pick up some hard plastic fishing net floats. About the size of a basketball. Because they are rigid they are good for floating chain (do not collapse under water like fenders). And you're doing the world a good turn by collecting them before they break into smaller bits of plastic.

How does this work? Floating chain with a buoy? Doesn’t that adversely affect how well you are anchored?!? I mean, I get that you don’t want your chain wrapped/caught on coral, but buoying chain seems like it wouldn’t mean you’re not anchored securely, especially in a blow? (And sounds hard-ish to set up.)

 

[Zonker]

When it blows, the chain straightens out and the buoys sink deeper under water. No issue with significantly reducing holding force.. Think of the buoys as "reverse catenary". It takes extra force to straighten the chain out When there is no/little wind the buoys keep the chain from wrapping into the coral. Often your anchor is in a patch of sand but lots of coral 30' away from the anchor. Pretty typical illustration:

We typically would use 3-4 buoys; one right at water depth just as the anchor touched bottom, and then 2 more evenly spaced. Not hard at all to set up if your buoy has a 1/4" rope about 6' long attached to it already. Just thread the rope over the pulpit, through the bow roller and tie to chain. Then throw the buoy overboard and continue lowering chain.

 

[TheDragon]

That image is almost exactly what I did near the north pass of Tahanea last week, Zonker. Just I did not have the hard pearl farm float yet, so simply used a large fender. I was only in 10 feet so it was easy, and had room in sand before the closest coral head for about 30 feet of chain out to start with, then two more bouys for a total of 60 feet of chain out. But conditions were gentle, so did not get to test the holding capacity, but I understand in a blow the bouys would get pulled down and the chain would all straighten out to about 25 degree angle just as would be the case normally. Assuming the blow stays in the same direction, no fear of catching on coral, and when the blow is over the fenders or floats will bring the chain back up.