The past few days were marred by the devastation that occurred throughout SE Asia and the South Pacific with earthquakes,tsunamis and hurricanes in Indonesia,the Philippines, Samoa and Tonga causing loss of lives and catastrophic property damage all within a few days span of time.  However we are zeroing in on the tragic effects of the tsunami that hit Niuatoputapu in Tonga as a result of the same powerful 8.3 earthquake that affected Samoa a couple of days ago. It has only been a few weeks since aboard Raven we were anchored off Niuatoputapu enjoying the warm hospitality of the islanders in this very remote outpost of Tonga.  Here’s a link to a New Zealand Herald news story describing the damage done to this small island and its inhabitants.  The link follows, as well as a transcription of the story.

> http://www.nzherald.co.nz/samoa-tsunami/news/article.cfm?c_id=1502844&objectid=10600831

“Emergency medical teams arrived at tsunami-hit Niuatoputapu island yesterday, the first outside aid for Tongan victims since the early-morning disaster two days ago.

The death toll for this remote settlement 500km north of the country’s main island, Tongatapu, is nine.

Four residents with serious injuries were flown out to Tonga’s capital, Nuku’alofa, only yesterday because damage to Niuatoputapu’s sole airstrip meant no craft could land immediately after the disaster.

Tongan Government spokesman Alfred Soakai, who had flown over the island, said 90 per cent of homes had been destroyed and the hospital had been seriously damaged.

Two of the island’s villages, Hihifo and Falehau, bore the brunt of three tidal waves, some 6m high, which hit at three-minute intervals after the 8.3-magnitude earthquake. Vaipoa village remained relatively unharmed.

Just over 1000 people live on Niuatoputapu, which sits close to the Samoan border. It is isolated by the expensive cost of infrequent transport to the island.

That isolation has been exacerbated this week as the tsunami severed all telecommunications infrastructure.

Because aid workers were unable to fly directly to the island, a Tonga Defence Services patrol boat loaded with food, medical supplies and tents was sent north from Tongatapu, arriving about 6pm yesterday.

Journalist Pesi Fonua, who was also on the Government-chartered flight over the island, saw scenes of devastation. Coastal villages have all but disappeared, with murky water lapping at shores awash with debris.

“It looked like everything had been flushed out to sea,” said Fonua.

“The amazing thing was that we saw very few people.”

“We flew around a number of times but there was very little movement, I counted about five people.”

It was heartbreaking not being able to land, he said.

“Those people must have been wondering what on earth was happening. We could tell that they were in distress and were expecting general assistance.”

Clean water remains a critical issue. Storage tanks are either unusable or were destroyed.

A radio clothing and food drive started yesterday morning in Nuku’alofa and a French frigate, which is on a goodwill trip to the capital, has been formally asked to take supplies to Niuatoputapu.”

How you can help

Pacific Cooperation Foundation
Deposits can be made at at any Westpac branch. All the money raised will go to the Samoan Government

Red Cross
- Make a secure online donation at redcross.org.nz
- Send cheques to the Samoan Red Cross Fund, PO Box 12140, Thorndon, Wellington 6144
- Call 0900 31 100 to make an automatic $20 donation
- Make a donation at any NZ Red Cross office

ANZ bank Make a donation at any ANZ bank branch, or donate directly to the ANZ appeal account: 01 1839 0143546 00

Oxfam – Make a secure online donation at Oxfam.org.nz – Phone 0800 400 666 or make an automatic $20 donation by calling 0900 600 20

Sunday morning after the big party, we went out on our final guided whale watching trip – as it turns out saving the best for last. Our guide this time was Allan from Whale Watch Vava’u, based out of his Mounu Island Resort and the pioneer of commercial whale watching in Vava’u. He picked us up off Raven from our anchorage near the Full Moon Party, picked up the rest of the swimmers from the resort, and headed confidently out to connect with a trio of whales.

We had an exhilarating day swimming with whales and were very fortunate to have had the opportunity. Most of the whale watching operations are booked solid at the moment, many with their boats taken up by private charters, and we have been scrambling to find space for ourselves. This boat was actually on charter by a Scot named Colin Baxter who therefore had exclusive rights to the boat and was extremely kind in allowing us to come aboard. Colin is an acclaimed professional landscape photographer and serious humpback whale aficionado who has been to all around the world building a portfolio of humpback photos for an eventual book.

Allan took us straight to a mother, calf and escort and we played with them for hours – sharing time with the resort’s other boat, and giving the whales some time to themselves as well. His skill at predicting their behavior without harassing them made every swim a success. In addition he educated us with information about whale behavior. Mother and escort would lie quietly 10-20 meters below the surface while the baby made multiple trips to the surface to breathe and to play, checking us out on each pass. Later in the day he got very playful and started breaching repeatedly. Occasionally the group would move on and relocate, at which point the boat would pick us up and reposition for another whale encounter in a new location.

The Tongan humpback whales have migrated here some 6,000 miles from the Antarctica, spending June through November in tropical waters calving, mating, and raising their offspring until the youngsters are strong enough to make the long trek back to their southern feeding grounds. While here the adults do not eat at all. A mother whale will lose some ten tons, one third of her body weight, during her tropical sojourn. Humpbacks are the most acrobatic of whales, exhibiting exuberant breaching, tail lobbing, and pectoral slapping behavior. They are also noted for their vocalizations and whalesong. Distinctively colored with white markings on the underside, they can be individually identified by the pattern of the markings on their tail flukes.

Late in the day Allan spotted the blow of another whale in the distance, so we said good-bye to our family of three and went off to see what new experiences awaited us. This whale was solitary, quietly lying on the bottom in some 10 meters of water near shore. While we swam above him he lay quietly for up to 20 minutes, then would rise with no apparent effort to the surface, take four breaths, and sink down again for another nap. Allan explained that whales sleep with half of their brain, one eye closed, while the other half remains awake. Because they breathe by conscious effort, unlike our automatic respiration, they need to be partially awake at all times.

Here are a few of the photos of the day, although I look forward to refining them with Photoshop when I get home. One photo, not particularly a good one, shows Mike snorkeling behind the trio of whales – giving you an idea of the contrast in size between a human and a combined total of some 60-70 tons of whale flesh!

PHOTO TIP:  DOUBLE CLICK ON ANY PHOTO FOR AN ENLARGEMENT

Morning all!

Socked in gray and steady downpour this Monday morning, 2 inches of rain in the forecast. Boat is nicely washed off and we are now filling the water tanks by collecting rainwater. Should have no problem topping off our 2400 liter storage tanks. We’re signed up for another day of whale watching, but don’t know yet if it’s a go. Tomorrow we’re pulling out of Vava’u about 4 am and sailing south to the Ha’apai group some 60 miles away. The rest of the week is forecast for strong winds – close to 30 knots – puts a damper on things but that’s the way the weather seems to have been this season in Tonga.

Neiafu locals organized Tonga’s First Annual Regatta Vava’u a bit on the spur of the moment – only coming up with the idea some 3 1/2 weeks ago – but they did a bang up job. There are 80 or so yachts in the main harbor last time I counted with many more in the anchorages. The organizing committee put together a few races with trophies along with an entire host of extracurricular activities and some 55 yachts signed up for one thing or another. We didn’t choose to go racing, but did sign up for Saturday night’s Full Moon Party which turned out to be quite the event..

The party was held on a smaller island some 20 minutes from here. We sailed out Saturday morning and anchored in a pretty spot nearby, went for a SCUBA dive on a submerged sea mount with lots of good coral and a large variety of fish, and eventually after dinner in the cockpit we took ourselves over to the party in the dinghy by the light of the full moon. First benefit was valet dinghy parking! With a few hundred people in attendance, all arriving by dinghy, the beach and dock was absolutely jammed with inflatables!

I was expecting bonfires on the beach with beer and a boom box – and was very surprised to find an atmosphere best described as a combination of Woodstock, Las Vegas, and Castaway! Somewhere a generator was hidden away – colored banners were strung up haphazardly in the trees and backlit with lights for effect. A mainsail was strung between two palm trees and served as the projection screen for ambient video. Local pubs and eateries had set up a food stand and a bar. The island had a curving hill wrapped around a flat focal point, creating the effect of an amphitheater. A deejay had a good sound system amped up and played dance music the entire night in the flattened area. Even the porta-pottie was special – built out of sticks and thatched pandanus leaves, but with a real plastic seat and toilet paper mounted on a forked stick!

Attendees including yachties of all shapes and sizes, from kids to gray hairs, and nationalities (French, Swiss, Danish, Brazilian, American, Spanish, British, Australian, New Zealanders and more), local Neiafu residents both palangis (foreigners) and Tongans, dressed in everything from glittery outfits with halloween masks to board shorts and muscle tees with handmade pandanus hats. Entertainment appeared sporadically throughout the evening – a host of dancers dressed in glow sticks for a skeletal effect in the dark, three Tongan fire dancers, a glow stick man on stilts.

We’re back in Vava’u after a not very fun sail from Niuatoputapu. We left Monday morning as the forecast indicated that was our best window for wind direction and strength in a weeklong forecast of continuing windy conditions. Beating into the wind, choppy swells, wind consistently between 25-30 knots – Mike compares the ride to being in a washing machine. After our bouncy but uneventful 18 hour overnight passage we pulled into Port Maurelle in the early morning for a lazy day anchored in quiet waters, catching up on our sleep, washing the salt water off the boat, and going for a snorkel.

Wednesday Mike and I went out again with Dive Vava’u, a first rate diving and whale watching operation. Windy as usual – same 25 knots stirring up the chop. We made 4 or 5 attempts to swim with the whales, donning our snorkel gear and waiting on the swim platform at the aft end of the boat, then sliding in (no splashing allowed – scares the whales away) and taking off in a 50 yard sprint to close with the whales. Four or five repeats of that scenario is good aerobic exercise in the rough water! On our first attempt we did see the whales for a moment – a mother and calf who would have been happy to hang around except for their male escort who rounded them up each time and drove them off.

Eventually we gave up the swim attempts and went looking for surface activity with a great deal more success. Good views of a female and calf – she laying on her side waving a flipper in the air and splashing it down on the water’s surface – according to our guide that is female behavior to attract a male. Flippers (pectoral fins) on a humpback whale are exceptionally long, up to 17 feet or about 1/3 the length of the whale’s entire body, therefore often referred to as wings.

We also had really good luck with breaching whales – I missed seeing the pair that breached in tandem – only saw the resulting huge splash. Another whale breached one time not too far from the boat, and then we lucked on an exuberant performer who breached 7-8 times, affording good photo ops. It’s a bit of a challenge to photograph breaching whales as they erupt quite unexpectedly out of the water – but when they repeat it ups the odds of pointing the camera in the right direction at the right time.

The whale in the breaching photos has a yellow patch under his throat – it is a colony of barnacles. One theory about why whales breach is that it is an attempt to dislodge parasites like those barnacles.

We plan to continue to go out whale watching on the premise that the more opportunity, the better the odds of success. However today (Friday) is socked in gray and drizzly – no wind and calm water for a change, but not very inviting. So I think we’ll just stay on Raven catching up with the internet and other mundane matters.

Photo Tip:  Double-clicking on any photo will open it up as an enlargement.

We are anchored in the main harbor of Niuatoputapu (translation: Very Sacred Coconut), about 160nm north of Vava’u. We made the overnight trip last Tuesday uneventfully and pulled into the main anchorage early Wednesday morning, having been entertained during the night by an iPhone app called pUniverse which located us by GPS satellite and then offered up a view of the night sky – showing stars, planets and constellations in live view mode as we pointed the phone in any direction!

After catching up on our sleep, we cleared in at the administrative center north of town, met a few friendly locals and were brought up to date on this week’s upcoming events. There are about 12 yachts anchored here at the moment and the local villagers seem well-organized with plans to keep the yachties entertained and occupied while generating a little cash flow. So far on the schedule is a pig roast, a dinner party at the one and only local resort, a tapa weaving demonstration (dinner included), and lunch Sunday on a nearby motu (little island). One of the yachts is here from France by way of Cape Horn with a family of four aboard – mom, dad, teenage son and daughter. Another sailed here direct from Seattle – 6,000 miles non-stop and single handed, a voyage of some 2+ months at sea. Another, en route from Canada to New Zealand, has a cat aboard who does not like sailing!

The weather forecast is windy and getting windier each day through Sunday, then a couple of nice days, then a big storm with rain due later next week. That makes it a bit hard to whale watch, although there are lots of humpbacks cruising the six mile stretch of water that separates the main island from a neighboring island named Fatahi, formed by an old volcano and classically cone-shaped.

Yesterday a local guide named Niko took us in his open boat across the strait to Fatahi for a day’s hike up the volcano. Overall it was a death-defying day and today we are resting our sore muscles and taking it easy in recuperation. Actually I think my muscles may require more than just a single day to recover – I am definitely stiff and creaky!

Niko picked us up at 7:30 a.m. and we headed straight to Fatahi, trolling two fishing lines during the crossing. Sure enough, a mahi mahi struck Rod’s line. He reeled it in while I videoed. Niko turned the fish over to a village woman living on Fatahi to be cooked up for our lunch at the end of our hike. When I get back to internet service I’ll post the video – Niko has asked me to burn it on DVD for him and his family.

Before our big hike we spent a little time in the village while Niko ran errands and made a few deliveries. Biggest laugh of the day was the telephone “switchboard” service. Niko’s brother is employed by the Telecom company on Fatahi, housed in a small shack with the one and only phone line for the island, a big antenna and a bullhorn. During our wait a phone call came in for one of the villagers. Niko’s brother took the call, then used the bullhorn to bellow out a summons throughout the village to alert the recipient.

Off we went on our hike – Fatahi is a perfectly cone-shaped volcano rising up from the sea to nearly 2,000 feet. The start of the hike was somewhat moderate, but finally we were going straight up – impossible on just two feet, we had to pull ourselves along the track with whatever handhold came our way – tree branches, ferns, rocks! At one point we took a coconut break – Niko skinnied up a handy coconut palm and brought down one each, whacking them open with his bush knife. Drinking coconut juice is extremely refreshing, and when it’s gone the shell is cracked all the way open revealing the coconut meat inside for a quick snack. Fortified, we continued on – as things were looking hopeful Niko told us only another 5 minutes to go. An hour(!)later we did actually get to the very top! Great view – we could see across to the main island, and looking down we could see the flying sea birds below us and at the base of the extremely steep cliffs we could see tiny humpback whales among the whitecaps in the sea. The guidebooks say on a really clear day (this wasn’t) it is possible to see all the way to Samoa some 150 nm to the north.

Mike and I were pretty proud that we managed to hang in there and actually make it to the summit, figuring it was all downhill after that! But we didn’t count on our guide leading us literally downhill – straight down! First we descended into the actual crater which is now a verdant rain forest, back up the far rim, and then we launched ourselves straight down a steep open slope of fern and bracken. Not a switchback or traverse in sight! I finally resorted to sitting on my rear end and scooting downwards using both legs and arms to avoid hurtling head over heels.

That took care of about 1500 vertical feet of the return trip (and ruined a perfectly good pair of shorts) but we had descended on the opposite side of the island and still had to hike a narrow forested path (Niko referred to it as “the road”) back to our starting point at the village. Luckily our mahi mahi was still waiting for us – we thought it might have been completely devoured by the time we showed up around 2 p.m. However we were treated to a nice lunch of coconut milk mixed with mango, fried chunks of mahi mahi, and baked plantain. A plantain looks like a large square banana but tastes more like a potato!

Mike and I were both pretty beat, but we straggled back to the harbor to board our boat home. A dozen or so Tongan men were waiting for us at water’s edge with a boat of their own waiting to launch. Two of them were in hunting mode, running gracefully along the jagged reef, one with a net and one with a sharpened stick for a spear, pursuing small reef fish. They brought several in to the beach and the Tongan men knifed into them, still flapping, and ate them raw seasoned with sea water. Yum?

As we loaded our boat and donned foul weather gear for the return trip, the Tongan men launched their boat (dry on the beach) by rolling it down a path of rolling logs. Then both boats put out to sea. We had 3 or 4 of the men aboard our boat but the second boat still looked top-heavy with some dozen or so very large men perched aboard.

The trip home was pretty adrenalin inducing in itself – the wind had kicked up to some 20-25 knots and big swells were rolling through the strait topped by white caps and occasional breakers. Niko was obviously a skilled navigator and the boat seaworthy – we just kept a good grip on the boat as it plunged through the sea, doused by wave after wave. Although it was clear a capsize would be life-threatening, Niko tells us he routinely goes out in even 40-50 knots of wind so this was just routine to him. The foul weather gear did absolutely no good – water just poured in through the neck and soaked us anyhow. It was about an hour’s passage, and by the time we cleared the entry channel into the protected anchorage Raven and a hot shower were looking really good!

And just to add the final punctuation to the day, it turns out the Tongan men were prisoners along with a couple of guards sent to Fatahi as a work force to harvest kava before returning to “jail” (really just a house) on Niuatoputapu.

Our flight to Vava’u was uneventful except for the two-hour delay departing Tucson. Made us a bit nervous as the LAX-Tonga flight only goes once a week, so if we missed our connection we were in for some creative rescheduling or a week long vacation in Los Angeles! There was a noticeable number of underwater photographers aboard the flight as I could tell from both overheard conversation and the type of luggage on the baggage carousel.

It always feels wonderful to step off the airplane and take in the clean humid air of the tropics, low flying clouds, and palm trees lining the runway. And Rod waiting with the dinghy at the dock to load up our suitcases and ourselves for a quick ride to Raven and the start of our alternative lifestyle. Off come the shoes, on go the shorts and T-shirts, and we are back into Raven mode.

Yesterday we signed up to go out with Whale Watch Vava’u, one of several whale watching tour boats that pursue the humpback whales in season. We were out on the water some eight hours tracking down a friendly whale. The first half of the day was only moderately successful, doing what our guides called “hit and run”. It was easy to locate whales – they are everywhere, but the ones we located were on the move and not inclined to play. Eventually when the boat got into good position, we’d slip into the water in our snorkel gear and kick off quickly to try to get a glimpse of the whales underwater as they glided by. Often they are in groups of 3, a mother and her baby escorted by a hopeful male suitor.

Our second hit and run encounter was a single male who dove down below us – we could just barely make out his tail in the blue gloom, but he was singing. Even those aboard the boat could hear the song, but in the water with our heads submerged it was an amazing experience to be immersed in whale song – as much a feeling as a sound as it echoed through the water.

Finally late in the day we got a radio tip that a swimmer-friendly whale and calf were hanging out near shore. We gave up on the random hit and runs and motored over to wait our turn to swim with the whale. Whale watching etiquette requires that only one boat works with a whale at a time, but must give up its place to another boat after 45 minutes, so we bided our time.

Well worth the wait! Mama whale was quietly suspended motionless in shallow water only about 6-7 meters deep. Her calf was only a few weeks old and he was playing around close to her body. On first view he was upright in the water, tail pointed down to the ocean floor, head peeking above his mother’s back, balanced by his flukes on her head and watching us watch him. However he swam loops around and about, quietly entertaining himself while mother never moved – just hung there, all 40 tons of her, while we floated at a respectful distance and enjoyed the experience.

No camera and photographs for me as I really hadn’t had enough time to assemble the housing and be sure that it was secure and flood-proof. Very easy to make a mistake and ruin several thousand dollars worth of equipment so I made the decision to leave it behind for our first outing. However I don’t know if we’ll have this kind of opportunity again – it was very special! Fingers crossed! And camera at hand from now on!

We had met up with friends from Tongatapu who were vacationing in Vava’u. They went whale watching along with us aboard the same boat, and after a nice hot shower to warm up we met again for a wonderful dinner at the best restaurant in town – The Dancing Rooster. Delicious food, great company, swimming with whales – a wonderful first day in Tonga!

Today we sail out of Neiafu Harbor and head for Port Morelle, a pleasant anchorage not too far away where there’s good snorkeling including some limestone sea caves for variety. Swallows Cave extends above and below water and can be entered by dinghy before diving up and down the vertical columnar space filled with fish. Mariner’s Cave has an underwater entrance – dive down to swim through the entrance, then rise to the surface and air space inside the cave. As the water level inside the cave rises and falls with wave action, the air fogs up and clears again from compression and condensation.

We plan to spend the weekend there, come back into the harbor to top off our diesel, then head north to the Niua Group some 160 nm from here. Very remote and beautiful, a population of only some 300 Tongans, and lots of whales.

About Tonga in general

Malo e lelei (“Greetings” in Tongan)

Our bags are packed and Tuesday afternoon we board our plane(s) for the long flight back to Raven, currently anchored in Vava’u, Kingdom of Tonga.  Why?  See photo (and no, I didn’t take it – hope I’m lucky enough to get something nearly as good)! It is humpback whale season and I’m super excited about the rare opportunity to swim with and photograph the humpbacks and their babies in Tonga’s clear waters.

Coincidentally this article about photographing whales showed up in my inbox just yesterday. Talk about timely!  As well I’ve inserted a link to a recording of humpback whale song, also a link to the excellent Dive Vava’u website about diving in Tonga and Tonga in general.

This is our last cruise aboard Raven; at its conclusion she sails for New Zealand to be sold. However the trip Rod has outlined for us sounds terrific. Spend several days in Vava’u, taking advantage of the commercial whale watching outfits there. Then cruise some 160nm north to the very remote Niuatoputapu Island for a week. Then back to Vava’u, down to the Ha’apai Group and finishing in Nuku’alofa mid-September.  Tonga consists of some 170 islands sprinkled over some 700,000 square km of ocean, and divided into four main island “groups”. On this voyage we plan to visit all four groups, from the Niuas in the far north to Tongatapu in the south, with the Ha’apai Group and the Vava’u Group between.

En route back to Tucson we plan to detour to New Zealand for a couple of days to check in with Circa Marine and see the latest progress on the FPB64.

An Underwater Photographer’s Guide to Humpback Whales in Tonga

Whale Song Recording

Dive Vava’u Website

Photo Gallery

Sundeer 64 Data Sheet

Cutter Rig Diagram 1

Cutter Rig Diagram 2

Interior Layout

It’s almost time for us to say good-bye to Raven. Our new FPB64 (Hull #1) will launch late this year and we haven’t figured out a good way to enjoy two boats at once! Sadly for us, this week we officially listed Raven with an international yacht broker. For further information contact us (using Comments at the bottom of this post) and we will put you in touch. We do have one more cruise planned aboard Raven in the Kingdom of Tonga this coming August/September. After that Raven will head to New Zealand where she will be officially available for trial in the Auckland area. Early inquiries and/or offers are welcome of course, but the logistics of prepurchase surveys are better off accomplished in New Zealand.

If you are seriously interested in blue water cruising, the Sundeer 64 is one of the finest boats ever designed in its class. Read what Sailing Magazine had to say in their September 2005 Best Boats issue. The Sundeer 64 is a cult boat with a big fan base, a true collector’s item. Raven was only on the market for two weeks when we were fortunate enough to purchase her nearly five years ago. We anticipate similar enthusiasm this time around. Owning Raven has been a life-changing experience for us – as it can be for you.

Nick frequently crews aboard Raven when a long passage requires an extra hand.  The cool thing is that he takes video and posts it on YouTube so even if we aren’t aboard, we get a taste of the adventure.  First is his video of Raven’s passage from La Paz, Mexico, to Nuku Hiva, Marquesas, French Polynesia – 2650 nautical miles completed in 13 1/2 days.  And following is a video of a provisioning run, stocking up on groceries in Papeete.  Lots of liquid refreshments (mostly red wine) – but keep in mind the majority is intended to last four people from mid-April until November in parts of the world where a well-stocked grocery store is just a fantasy.

PHOTO GALLERIES
2009 South Pacific

Yesterday we headed out of the harbor towards the anchorages, and this morning we decided to move around to a favorite spot called Blue Lagoon – a beautiful circlet of intense blue and turquoise water surrounded by breaking surf, coral reefs, limestone islands and sandy beaches where we were looking forward to a nice snorkel. Also we remembered a resort there from our last Tongan visit where we had enjoyed a delicious dinner – so had hopes of a repeat. Before any of this came about however, Mike spotted an enormous lake of blood staining the surf near the shore of the resort with a few locals knee deep in the water up to something. Always curious, we jumped in our dinghy and buzzed over to take a look.

PHOTO GALLERIES
2009 South Pacific

We’re safe and sound in Port of Refuge Harbor, Neiafu, Vava’u, Kingdom of Tonga. Nothing exciting to report about our 750 mile passage – alternately reading, sleeping, and standing watch 24 hours a day for four days and nights. Good thing we picked up our extra diesel in Penrhyn because for two days the wind was non-existent and we’d probably still be floating around out there without our faithful engine to carry us onwards. En route we crossed the International Dateline so now it is the following Monday here instead of Sunday back home.

PHOTO GALLERIES
2009 South Pacific

We changed our plans a bit – bad weather was forecast for around Niue that we wanted to avoid, also due to hit Tonga in about six or seven days, so we decided to leave Suwarrow and head straight for Tonga to be sure we were settled in to the very nice safe harbor in Vava’u before the weather hit. We departed Suwarrow Monday afternoon, expecting to arrive in Tonga during the wee hours of Friday morning, except in Tonga it is really Saturday instead of Friday. Gets confusing sometimes – just hope we don’t get mixed up and miss our flight home! We leave on the 26th from Tonga, connect in Samoa the 25th (day before!), then arrive in LA on the 26th, same day we left only earlier!

PHOTO GALLERIES
2009 South Pacific

We arrived at Suwarrow atoll Thursday morning at the end of the 200 mile passage from Penrhyn – uneventful sailing, light winds, a very comfortable ride. At night the radar screen was so empty it appeared to be broken – not a squall in sight. We did cross paths with the supply ship out of Rarotonga making its rounds of the islands, also passed a large buoy floating free – but nothing else. Nearly a full moon so lots of light on the water all night long.

PHOTO GALLERIES
2009 South Pacific

For us Penrhyn’s biggest attraction is underwater. We’ve been in the water constantly on this trip, snorkeling and swimming several times a day and scouting out the site of our next scuba dive. We had already snorkeled through Takuua Passage near our anchorage and wanted to return and dive the pass near high tide when the incoming ocean water turns the lagoon water crystal clear as an aquarium.

PHOTO GALLERIES
2009 South Pacific

Tetautua Village maintains a Yacht Record Book – an oversize hardback book with lined blank pages, covered with canvas and stored in a vinyl water resistant bag. Each visiting yacht over the past many years has filled out a page or two in the record book. It’s a blast to read through the old entries filled with photos, sketches, and journals posted by a wide variety of cruisers. Rod came here in 9 years ago on his own sailboat Uwhilna – we found his page and he bemoaned his lost youth as evidenced in the 8-year old photo (poor Rod is now an ancient old man of 42!).

PHOTO GALLERIES
2009 South Pacific

Rod unpacked his speargun and has started shooting our dinner. He’s a really good spearfisherman, free-diving down and
hitting his target almost every time, with an aim good enough to hit even a small fish in the ideal spot just behind the head near the gills. I follow closely towing the dinghy, because when a fish is speared it is paramount to get it up and out of the water as quickly as possible before the sharks arrive. They know the sound of the spear hitting rock and come around quickly to investigate. If they have a chance to grab the fish on the end of the spear and take off with it, most likely the diver will lose his entire speargun as well as his fish.

PHOTO GALLERIES
2009 South Pacific

Our hosts from Tetautua Village have continued to entertain us. This morning we followed our leader OJ by dinghy some four or five miles to the far side of the lagoon, following a curving track to avoid the ever present coral bommies, where the facilities of a bankrupt pearl farm lie abandoned on the western shore. Many of the villagers – men, women and children – had camped out at the pearl farm overnight for a coconut crab hunt, baiting the enormous blue crabs in the night with fresh coconut meat and then snatching them up and tossing them into an empty oil drum. This takes some finesse, as the crabs can easily snap off a finger with their powerful claws.

PHOTO GALLERIES
2009 South Pacific

For Saturday afternoon’s activity, our village patriarch (named OJ) had also invited us to join his family on a milkfish outing which we later realized was an event put on especially for us (and all visiting yachties) to introduce outsiders to the Cook Island way of life. Shedding our church-going clothes and getting back into our familiar swimsuits and shorts we joined together again, this time on the beach, to take part in a big family picnic.

PHOTO GALLERIES
2009 South Pacific

It’s Monday morning and Rod and Geraldine have hitched a boat ride across the lagoon to the big city of Omoka (population about 150) for propane and shopping, leaving Mike and I alone on Raven to recuperate from our whirlwind social obligations of the past few days!

First thing Saturday morning we were hailed by returning village fisherman in their boats, coming in with their catch of tuna and offering us a fat yellowfin as a gift. Since we so far have failed to catch one of our own, this was greeted with great enthusiasm by the tuna fans on Raven! The Cook Islanders may not be quite so enthusiastic about tuna as we are as their diet consists almost solely of fish, rice and coconut. With the supply ship only showing up every 6 months or so the only island store sells out of all the imported stuff in just a few days.

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2009 South Pacific

When I talk about our “other life” here’s an example. A recent morning started with Mike in his bathing suit balanced on Raven’s swim step while I gave him a haircut using Rod’s electric clippers. All the while some five or six baby reef sharks meandered lazily near the boat stern a few feet away in water more turquoise than any swimming pool!

We left Bora Bora last Tuesday morning at dawn for our 600 mile passage to Penrhyn Island in the Cook Islands. Allowing 200 nautical miles per day, our goal was to arrive mid morning when the sun was at a good angle to help us navigate through the narrow lagoon entrance and spot the multitude of bommies (coral heads) that make for treacherous navigation in this part of the world.

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2009 South Pacific

We’ve had a couple of busy days – a swim or a snorkel every day is the best way to take a shower. Swim first, then shampoo and a fresh water shower on Raven’s swim step – towel dry and repeat whenever it gets a little hot. The kite surfing expedition was a bust; got all the gear together and dinghied off to the beach, but ultimately determined that it wasn’t an ideal location for starters so gave up on that plan. Tried some water skiing and skurfing, but we need a more powerful outboard motor to give provide sufficient oomph.

We’ve been enjoying delicious healthy meals on the boat, but splurged one night and went out to Bloody Mary’s, a famous Bora Bora restaurant specializing in seafood. There’s a sign out front carved with a hundred or so names of famous personalities who have dined there – Johnnie Depp, Lauren Bacall, Pierce Brosnan, Bill Gates, Warren Buffet – just to name a few that we recognized!

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2009 South Pacific

Here we are the balmy South Pacific after freezing last weekend in San Diego and Tucson both! Of course it’s probably warming up nicely there as well, as soon as we left town!

Flights went smooth as silk – an hour’s flight from Tucson to LAX, a 3 hour layover in Air Tahiti Nui’s international lounge, and then an 8 1/2 hour flight from LAX to Papeete, arriving exactly on time at 6:30 p.m., just as it was turning dark. All our luggage made the trip as well so we flagged down a taxi and in five minutes we were checking in to the Intercontinental Resort Tahiti. It is a lovely resort but we didn’t see much of it, although we enjoyed a gourmet French dinner in an outdoor restaurant overlooking the sea – then early to bed and early to rise as we had a 7 a.m. island-hop flight from Tahiti to Bora Bora a couple of hundred miles away.

The following video and news story on March 18 definitely caught our attention, as we plan to be sailing into Tongan waters come May, remaining there through October. This volcano is actually a couple hundred miles from our cruising route, but I sure would have hated to be sailing in the vicinity when it blew. The eruption has since created a new island, and pumice was expected to clog the shores of Fiji within a couple of days. Meanwhile Raven is preparing to depart Papeete where she has been moored for a couple of weeks, heading to Bora Bora via an idyllic route that includes Moorea and Huahine, islands we remember fondly from our first Polynesian cruise in November 2006!

done

Captain’s Log

Mar 16 – We are now on a mooring at Marina Taina…………….progress !!! no more room to anchor the whole area is now taken up with moorings………the progress here is quite outstanding after 2 years of absence. The wind last night was a real pain………30knts from the south, but moved around to the se as we approached, I guess one day of headwinds in 3500 miles is OK……..We have come to papeete to get washing machine parts, plus gas bottle refill, plus stocking up for your trip. plus i need some boat supplies. It was amazing to go to a ‘real supermarket’ again………..wot a selection………but as you will recall at a huge price……….its unbelievable wot things cost here…………so be prepared for our shopping bill.

Mar 22 – Yap sounds fiery in Tonga……..We had tsunami warning here…….police came on jet skis and told all the yachts……..we were at supermarket……amazingly only one boat went to sea !!!!!!!!so what’s a warning worth ???

Mar 24 – We will leave Papeete 2mrw at 9am for Moorea and then on to Huahine………Great to leave here, due to the fact we are on the leeward side of the island, there is no wind at all……..so hot hot……it will be nice to be at anchorage in the trades……

Mar 25 - We are anchored in Moorea………5am start 2mrow for Huahine……….We are going to have our arrival party/dinner at the restaurant overlooking the boat 2mrow night……..We have saved the party for our arrival in the Leeward Islands….the completion of this part of the journey, 3800nm from La Paz !!!……now looking forward to what’s next…. our trip !!!

After just a few days of catching up on sleep, refueling, provisioning, misc repair jobs, etc., Raven and crew set sail for Rangiroa some 600 miles away. Rangiroa is located in an archipelago of atolls called the Tuamotus, very different from the steep rugged scenery of the Marquesas.

Raven made landfall around midnight (French Polynesia time) last night!  I’m sure the crew is already anticipating a well-deserved big celebration and some nice shore time in one of the most beautiful places on earth!  This Google Earth image shows Raven’s approximately 3200 mile track (in yellow) from La Paz, Mexico, to the Marquesas (marked in green).  The next green marker some 900 miles further on is Bora Bora where Mike and I plan to meet up with the boat mid-April, and the three red place markers are Penrhyn and Suwarrow in the Cook Islands, and Vava’u, Kingdom of Tonga, where we plan to cruise in April-May. That massive expanse of blue water looks much better in person!

By the way, the little volcano icon top left is Mauna Kea on the Big Island of Hawaii.

How to Weather the Economic Storm! Maybe a little tongue-in-cheek, maybe not!  At any rate a fun look into the mind of the designer of our new FPB and the reasoning behind the boat’s innovative design.  By the way, we’ve made our choices for the interior fabrics and materials with some valuable assistance from friend and interior designer Larry Shades. Time is marching on and progress continues on the boat – it won’t be too long before we’ll be taking possession and embarking on a new chapter in our cruising lifestyle.

Read Steve Dashew’s article HERE.

Raven set sail last Monday morning from La Paz on her way to the Marquesas in French Polynesia. Here in Tucson Mike and I have been receiving daily email reports from Rod giving us some pertinent details and updated position reports. Our international crew aboard consists of Captain Rod (a native Kiwi), Brit expat and part-time crew member Nick, and Rod’s Filipino wife Geraldine.

Today they passed the halfway mark, sailing into the Intercontinental Convergence Zone (ITCZ) – an exceptionally rainy area near the equator, from about 5° north and 5° south, where the northeast trade winds and southeast trade winds converge in a low pressure zone also known to sailors as the Doldrums .  Here Raven passed through rain and squalls in what sounds like an exciting bit of sailing.

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2009 New Zealand

We’re down to our last full day in New Zealand – tomorrow we catch a flight from Nelson to Auckland, lay over a few hours, fly 12 hours from Auckland to LAX, lay over several more hours, and finally arrive in Tucson on Tuesday the 27th at 5:41 p.m. This is jet lag direction, flying towards the sun the entire way and gaining back the day we lost when we came over. Even so we have it easier than the Europeans who visit New Zealand. Their flying time in each direction is some 24 hours – usually broken up with a stay in the Orient – Singapore, Hong Kong or Bangkok – rather than flying straight through!

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2009 New Zealand

From Treetops we continued south to Hastings. Driving in New Zealand takes some getting used to – we’ve conquered driving on the opposite side of the road – but the two lane highways that wind through mountainous terrain with little or no shoulder and 100 km speed limits and a fair amount of traffic definitely make for tense and tiring conditions…even though the scenery can be spectacular.

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2009 New Zealand

I’m writing this from a sofa in a passenger lounge aboard the Interislander Ferry traversing Cook Strait from Wellington on the North Island to Nelson on the South Island. It is a 92 km trip, takes about 3 hours, and is hyped as the most beautiful ferry ride in the world. The weather is sunny and calm and we’re really lucky we don’t have yesterday’s weather for our crossing – wind speed hit 100 knots in Wellington, breaking windows in a high-rise bank building and capsizing some canoeists out for a paddle.

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2009 New Zealand

Monday morning it was down to business – back to Circa Marine for in depth discussions and exploration of the boat. Todd Rickard, the FPB64 project manager, had flown in from Seattle the previous day. He gave us a detailed computer-aided presentation of design details and issues to be resolved. Among other things, it’s time to pick out colors, fabrics, and all the fittings necessary for the interior decor – I have an overwhelming collection of samples – ultrasuede, ultraleather, awning fabric, rubber

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2009 New Zealand

Our schedule included nearly an entire week in the town of Whangarei where Circa Marine is located and where our FPB64 is under construction. The main purpose of our trip to New Zealand is to check into the boatyard and show some hands-on interest in the progress of the boat-building project. So early Thursday morning, taking our time and enjoying the scenery, we drove some 3-4 hours from Auckland north to Whangarei where we checked into Lodge Bordeaux, our home for the next six nights.

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2009 New Zealand

We had a perfect trip over to New Zealand – although there’s nothing to be done about the length of time it takes to get here!  We left the house around 1 p.m. (let’s not discuss the part about me getting stuck in the

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2008 Mexico 4 – La Paz to Guaymas

Snorkeling today on the point north of San Carlos marina – good drop off, lots of fish – six or eight baby yellowtail tuna? About 3″ long, the size of my middle finger, they kept attacking my wetsuit, grabbing hold of the neoprene and shaking it in their mouths. Very persistent and distracting! First time ever attacked by fish – mini tuna!

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2008 Mexico 4 – La Paz to Guaymas

Here we are in San Carlos – as close to Tucson as Raven will ever get! It even feels like a suburb of Tucson. Half the boats in the marina name Tucson as their home port. This weekend the Tucson Sailing Club is hosting a regatta. We even bought an Arizona Daily Star in the coffee shop!

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2008 Mexico 4 – La Paz to Guaymas

I’ve been remiss in the travelogue department, but we are still afloat and enjoying ourselves. We’ve covered a lot of territory since last communication – as of day before yesterday we hit the most northern point of our cruise and are now headed downhill much to Rod’s approval. Only 7,000 miles to go (to New Zealand), downwind all the way!

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2008 Mexico 4 – La Paz to Guaymas

We’ve been leading our usual idyllic lifestyle on Raven – always more of the same, but always new and different as well. Up ’til now we have been retracing our past route, but as the prevailing wind is from a different direction than last cruise, we are able to overnight in new anchorages that weren’t suitable prior. We did repeat one of our favorite anchorages at Puerto El Gato, a very scenic spot fondly remembered from last voyage for our lobster dinner. This time the local lobsterman only found one lobster for us (late notice) and was very apologetic, but we shared and it was delicious anyway – plus much cheaper ($50 pesos and a six-pack of cerveza) than “market price” at a good restaurant!

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2008 Mexico 4 – La Paz to Guaymas

Last night’s anchorage was off Isla San Francisco, in a bay called “The Hook”. On our previous trip we had to bypass this particular spot as the wind was coming out of the wrong direction making the anchorage unsafe, but conditions were in our favor this time around. The south end of the island terminates in a long curving white sand beach ending in a mountain peak – appearing exactly like a giant fish hook. The water was calm, clear and turquoise – just like a giant swimming pool! Mike and I hiked along the mountain ridge that stretches along the east shoreline the length of the island. That side of the island was rugged and rocky, with very volcanic looking rock formations, bizarre colors including mauve and green, plunging cliffs meeting a dark blue sea rough with surf and a beach of multi-colored stones some 10-12″ in diameter. All in all completely different from our safe haven on the opposite side of the island, even though the two coastlines are only separated by less than a mile of terrain.

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2008 Mexico 4 – La Paz to Guaymas

We’re safe and sound in Mexico – flew in yesterday to Cabo San Lucas – Rod met us in a rental car and we drove 2 1/2 hours to La Paz, stopping for lunch in Todos Santos at the Hotel California (but not THE Hotel California). Couldn’t find any decent flights direct to La Paz – off-season I guess. We had 4 suitcases and 2 big boxes – it cost a fortune in extra bag fees and duty coming into Mexico, but we had to bring parts for Raven to make the passage to French Polynesia in February. Six 12 volt fans, three water pumps, 38 water filters, a new kayak, some new dive gear, and all our rolls and rolls of South Pacific charts that we had taken off the boat when we arrived in San Diego last year.

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2008 Mexico 3 – La Paz to Loreto

We’re retracing our steps back to La Paz with less than a week left before heading back to Tucson – last night we were anchored again in Ensenada Grande, our favorite anchorage on Espiritu Santo.

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2008 Mexico 3 – La Paz to Loreto

Nothing much exciting to report – really just more of the same. We’re working our way south again towards La Paz from Loreto and keeping our eye on a new tropical disturbance that shows some signs of possibly heading north rather than west. Meanwhile the weather is consistently calm and warm.

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2008 Mexico 3 – La Paz to Loreto

Still hanging out in Puerto Escondido. It is hotter here and the breeze has dropped to zero, so we have reinstalled the air conditioner above deck and it is working like a champ.

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2008 Mexico 3 – La Paz to Loreto

We’re back in civilization. Our anchorage two nights ago at Candelero Chico was idyllic and all our own, until the next morning when swells started coming into the bay and rocking the boat – nothing worse than a rolly anchorage, so we left and headed towards Isla Danzante just across from the entrance to Puerto Escondido. I enjoyed a night swim around Raven in sparkling phosphorescence, one of my favorite things to do on a warm night, with the water warm and black and myriads of little sparkles swirling around my arms and legs as I move.

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2008 Mexico 3 – La Paz to Loreto

We did go for our beach walk – in one direction the beach was sand for miles, but we went the other direction and the beach was nothing but banks and banks of small stones, 2-3 inches in diameter. Kind of hard work walking – we had the VHF radio with us and after an hour plus walking decided to bag the return and called Rod for a dinghy ride home. The next morning Mike and I explored Laguna Amortajada – Mike in the dinghy and I in my kayak. It was very inviting, wide wide shallow waterways defined by parallel banks lined with mangroves. Herons and pelicans roost in the branches, and small fish are protected in the tangle of mangrove roots, making it an ideal nursery for future generations of sea life. Small rays the size of a man’s hand scooted across the soft bottom.

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2008 Mexico 3 – La Paz to Loreto

We’re cruising today, heading slowly northwards with Loreto as our final destination. Today we’re anchored at the south end of Isla San Jose, a large island 16 miles long, located 42 miles NNW of La Paz.

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2008 Mexico 3 – La Paz to Loreto

We arrived exactly on time, no hitches, every airline on schedule. Rod met us at La Paz airport and by mid afternoon we were back aboard Raven, unpacking, catching up on news, and doing not much of anything else. For dinner we went to our favorite restaurant in La Paz, El Patron, sitting out on the patio overlooking the bay. It was definitely hot in La Paz when we arrived, but in the evening a south wind springs up (the coromuel) and cools everything down nicely, so it was a beautiful evening. Mike and I elected to walk home along the malecon (oceanside promenade), a few miles in the cool of the evening, nice exercise. There were literally hundreds of people out enjoying the evening – surprising to us since it was a Wednesday, not the weekend, but maybe it’s just a way for the locals to enjoy the cool breezes after the hot dry dusty days.

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Bank Protection Project

We’re back home from our most recent sailing trip and missing the lifestyle, but we wanted to be close to home during the massive bank protection construction project just to be sure all goes to plan (if you don’t know what I’m talking about, read my January 29 post).

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2008 Mexico 2 – Barra to La Paz

Sorry for the lack of communication – we’re completely without cellphone service and for some reason the satellite phone tells us we are only allowed outgoing emergency calls, even though we should have some 400+ minutes pre-purchased minutes left on our plan. So we’re down to sailmail exclusively. However we’re headed home this Friday, back to the real world and a view of the bank protection project which has probably alienated all our neighbors by now!

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2008 Mexico 2 – Barra to La Paz

From Ensenada de los Muertos we continued on to La Paz where we have a slip reserved starting April 1. This will be Raven’s home base through hurricane season and probably until next March or so, when we put our 2009 cruising plans into effect. This will give us plenty of opportunity to thoroughly explore the Sea of Cortez over the next many months. While waiting for our berth to open up at the Marina Palmira we’ve just been cruising nearby. Tomorrow we’ll claim our berth, head into town to reprovision, clean the boat and generally regroup – then depart again for more exploration.