12YO

17 Comments

Birthdays in our family are sort of floating dates. We’ve been known to celebrate a birthday everything from a month early to weeks late. Lowe’s twelfth got the week late treatment. Despite best laid plans, we had neither his main gift, nor the eggs to make his cake with. A … Read More

Aitutaki Whales

10 Comments

The main reason for us coming to Aitutaki was to swim with the whales and do a bit of diving. Within a couple of days we had managed both. It’s humpback birthing season and the new babies are sticking close to their mamas. It didn’t take us long to find … Read More

On to Aitutaki

5 Comments

We were sailing along beautifully towards Aitutaki, with light following breeze and seas. That’s when our new halyard chafed through. Fortunately, the knot caught the block and kept the whole thing from falling into the water in front of us. The halyard comes out of the mast, drops down through … Read More

Bora Sharks

5 Comments

We stayed in Bora Bora a little longer than we first thought we would. We had friends in the bay with us, the kids were having fun swimming and playing Fortnite together, and we were feeling pretty content just sitting here enjoying the view. Every day there is a group … Read More

Bora Bora

15 Comments

Sailing into Bora Bora is amazing, really. It’s just another one of those iconic places. The kind of place a well-heeled tourist can fly into, but to sail here in your own home is a vastly different experience. My mom and brother were two of those well-heeled tourists twenty years … Read More

To Taha’a

8 Comments

We woke up in Cook’s Bay to an absolutely beautiful morning. We knew Mo’orea was a place worth spending a bunch of time on, but our visas had expired, and we were now unwelcome and “en route” to the Cook Islands. We lifted anchor and continued on. The first Bumfuzzle, … Read More

Last Minute Tahiti

11 Comments

We walked past the Presidential Palace last week and were welcomed inside the gates by the security guard. We inquired about a tour and they gave us a request form to fill out. A week later we were being led around by a very friendly guy who is absolutely in … Read More

Tahiti To-Do

11 Comments

Most people don’t come to Tahiti with the idea of doing a bunch of work, but that’s sort of what has happened to us. Admittedly, we could have done more to prepare our boat for sailing around the world. We’ve got a list of excuses for why we didn’t, but … Read More

Papeete Boat Prep

9 Comments

We came to Tahiti with a long list of things to do, starting with simply giving the boat a thorough cleaning, and washing everything onboard. The Papeete lunch of choice seems to be shoving a bunch of Chinese food into a baguette. Solid choice that I won’t argue with. It’s … Read More

On to Tahiti

9 Comments

Our weather window to leave Fakarava and head to Tahiti dragged out a few days later than we thought it would. We don’t have long stay visas, which means we’re on the clock here and will need to be leaving French Polynesia by the end of the month. We figured … Read More

All Around Fakarava

5 Comments

Headed to the bar. Well, it’s a dive resort that half-heartedly sells warmish beers to the cruisers that show up to hang out. This week there were a number of well-known Youtubers there, so it could have easily been mistaken for a movie set, complete with autograph seekers and small … Read More

Fakarava Grouper Spawn

9 Comments

We sailed a few miles from the Hirifa anchorage to the Fakarava South Pass anchorage. All anyone had been talking about was the Marbled Grouper spawning which happens once a year on the full moon in July. Tens of thousands of Grouper fill this pass, which is sort of cool … Read More