Net Gains... or, Give a Little, Take a Little

French Polynesia to Niue, Day 2. Position 16 45S, 154 03W
Weather forecasting in the South Pacific is a challenge. We obtain Weather from a number of sources and get opinions from other cruisers. Everyone has an opinion on the weather around these parts and given how variable it is you stand a good chance of being right some of the time.
The weather charts show a cold front coming our way. We have been on the lookout for it all day after a report this morning that an ominous cloud bank is building to our West. Yesterday and today we have had light winds from the ENE and relatively flat seas. It would be nice to have a little more wind so that we can sail a little faster, but let's hope not too much wind.
There are a number of boats in our area, some heading north to Suwarrow, some to the Southern Cooks and Tonga. It's comforting to know through the morning net that we are not out here alone and it could be helpful to hear what conditions others are experiencing. Since the Marquesas, we've been checking in with the Polynesian Breakfast Net on 8164 SSB. 7:30AM on 8164 started with Whiskers wanting to keep in touch with us as well as Emily Grace and word got around to the point where a net evolved. Steve on Dignity organized everyone into a helpful and widespread net. In response perhaps to the difficulty in getting reliable weather information and in particular the unreliability of the grib files, Jack on Whoosh took on the job of Principal Weather Guesser. He's since recruited another three or four Guessers who collect information from various sources including Nadi Weather Map, Fiji Fleet Codes, NOAA, New Zealander Bob McDavitt's weekly newsletter, French Polynesian Weather and GRIB files. It turns out that the models used for the GRIB files have difficulty predicting the wind in the South Pacific so a prediction of light winds is not always reliable.
Organized nets rely on controllers to facilitate. Trish has been helping once a week with the Polynesian net. Our experience has been that if you put yourself out for the greater good, you give a little and you typically get a lot more back from the organized nets. When boats check in to the net they are not just reporting their position, which could be useful if they should find themselves in difficulty later on. They're also providing on the spot wind and sea conditions that could help others in their wake. Cruisers also share information about anchorages, services, etc. on the net. We all gain from being involved.

Anchorages... Tahuata, Marquesas. May 13, 2010

Tahu means fire, ata means spirit. The island is known for its tatoo artists, stone and wood carvers, and friendly people.

Crystal clear waters of the anchorage at Resolution Bay, Vaitahu. Captain Cook landed here and named the bay after his ship, Resolution.

*Part of a series of images highlighting our favourite anchorages.

Farewell French Polynesia... Two Tuna To Go!

At noon today we made our way from one of the most delightful anchorages in French Polynesia, through the amazingly blue lagoon, along the well-marked channel and out the "infamous" pass to the open sea. We could easily have spent a lot more time in Maupiti. They say the small island is what Bora Bora was before it was "discovered", unspoilt. We enjoyed our time in Bora Bora and all the islands we visited in French Polynesia but Maupiti will probably always be a little special to us. So many people pass it by on their way to the Cook Islands or Tonga. Some people tried to talk us out of going through the pass because it's narrow and impassable when the wind is from the south or southwest. We're glad we made the stop at Maupiti, just 27 miles west of Bora Bora.
From here it's farewell to many of our friends and the beautiful islands of French Polynesia and on to Niue, about 1,000 miles from Maupiti. From here the cruising fleet spilts multiple ways as cruisers head for the final destination for this cruising season, New Zealand or Australia where they'll wait out the cyclone season. We met Gary and Jackie of Inspiration Lady and Jack of Anthem by radio in the Dominican Republic and Turks and Caicos over a year ago. They're heading to New Zealand along with Jacqui and Dave of Jackster so it will be at least another year before we see them again. We met Gerald and Di (and Beatrice) on Whiskers, in Marsh Harbour, Bahamas almost 18 months ago and will be trying to catch up with them at points along the way to Australia in the next few weeks.
Just to start us off on the right "foot", or is that keel, Elliot landed two beautiful yellowfin tunas simultaneously this afternoon. That was exciting. Plenty of fish to go on our way.

Underwater, Unbelievably Blue Tuamotus

Can you believe that some bright sparks thought the Tuamotus Archipelago was a good place to do nuclear testing???

Underwater photographs by Elliot.

Anchorages... Ua Pou, Marquesas. May 16, 2010

Hakahetau Bay, (hock-ah-hay-tao) with a backdrop of seven vertical spires, "powerful giants that reign over the landscape", according to Joe Russell author, "Exploring the Marquesas Islands". Arguably the most striking anchorage in the world.

The tallest spire, Oave, is over 3,900 feet and was shrouded in cloud for the time we were there.

*Part of a series of images highlighting our favourite anchorages.

Underwater, Pink Turbans and Pipe Fish

Turban shell

Pipe Fish

It's hard to believe the colors and careful camouflage of life underwater. All underwater photographs by Elliot. He really has an eye for the small pipe fish so thanks to him, I get to see what I missed while snorkeling.

Underwater, Big Fish, Cool Colours

Giant Clam, the animal can be purple, red, blue, green, whatever.

Big fish, about 3 feet long.

The Galapagos Islands, Ecuador, March 2010

Reclining Sea Line

The Galapagos, where the birds walk on water. The tiny Elliot's Storm Petrel was our intro to the islands.

Arriving in the Galapagos was a relief. That’s probably an understatement; it was tremendously exciting. As we approached San Cristobal, we saw a small waterfall tumbling into the sea, lava coastlines, sea turtles, a shark, birds walking on water and sea lions.

Inspiration Lady, San Cristobal

The population of the Galapagos islands is over 30,000. In 2008, 180,000 tourists, including Ecuadorian residents, visited the islands. I can’t tell you the sea lion count except to say they appear everywhere. You might even find one on your stern or peering inside your hatch, as Jacqui and David did on Jackster.

Anthem and Jackster, San Cristobal

Sally Lightfoot crab.

Jack, Anthem, enjoys his ice cream. Thanks to Jackie and Gary, Inspiration Lady, (first across the line) we all enjoyed ice cream.

Owen, Elliot and Robert rented bicycles to explore the beaches.

We took a bus up to the El Junco national park. To get to the top of the crater you take a steep walkway. Then you can look down into the fresh water crater lake. Frigate birds come to the lake to wash salt off their wings. The mountain is shrouded in clouds so the vegetation is lush and the air is dripping wet.

Elliot and Owen inside a moss and fern lined “Hobbit Hole” at El Junco, San Cristobal. Exposed tree roots help to form the walls and roof. The earth was washed away when the lake overflowed and formed a river down the side of the mountain.

We visited the Cerro Colorado visitor center on San Cristobal where they have a captive tortise breeding program.

From tiny babies to giants

We also visited the Charles Darwin Research Center on Santa Cruz, home of Lonesome George, the last of his particular species of tortise.

Luxury Galapagos cruiser, M/S The Alta ran aground in Puerto Ayora,

Galapagos on March 17, 2010.

We didn’t expect to be able to do a lot of provisioning in the Galapagos but we found the small super mercados to be quite well stocked. The farmers’ market in San Cristobal was an unexpected bonus. We found watermelon, oranges, papaya, bananas, canteloupe, peppers, cucumber, potatoes, onions, mandarins, tomatoes, coriander, passionfruit, pumpkin, beans, and tamarillos and got change back out of $20.

Kicker Rock, from our lunch time anchorage on a snorkel trip.

Look out for Elliot's underwater postings from locations along the way.

For the story of the grounding of The Alta,

http://www.pura-aventura.com/news/galapagos-boat-accident-alta