One Year Out Part II–Advice for New Cruisers

While we are in NO WAY experts after one year, there are some things we’d like to pass along that we have learned after sailing almost 10,000 miles out on the big blue ocean.  In the interest of keeping it simple, I’m going to do bullet points on topics.  If you have ANY questions, feel free to post a comment and I’ll try to get back to you when we have internet…

Food Provisioning

• Don’t go overboard on staples like rice, flour, milk, pasta or canned meat and vegetables.  These items are available pretty much anywhere you go – even the smallest store will have most of them – so don’t bother wasting too much space on them.
• DO stock up on items you love that you know you won’t be able to get elsewhere.  I am a total cheese-o’holick, so we brought a LOT of cheese and I buy more whenever we have the opportunity.  I’m relieved to say we’ve never run out (not sure WHAT would happen if we did!!!).  Stock up on what is important to YOU!
• Don’t bother stocking up on toothpaste, shampoo, soaps, etc.  They are also available everywhere.  Turns out people all over the world like to stay clean!  Not sure why I didn’t think about that before we left… 
• In Mexico you can find almost anything, so don’t feel like you need to buy a ton of stuff before leaving the states.  If you make the jump across the pond to the South Pacific, things start getting harder to find and they are much more expensive.  We provisioned VERY heavily in Mexico and it saved us a LOT of money in the long run (AND allowed us to eat well for a reasonable price!).
• If you drink, stock up heavily before leaving the states or Mexico as alcohol is VERY expensive pretty much everywhere in the South Pacific, but especially in French Polynesia.  And don’t forget about your mixers!  Tonic was available in larger ports, but only after some wide searches – even in Mexico. 
• Bizarrely, junk food and sugary cereals are available in EVERY store (even the tiny ones) in the south pacific.  It’s a pretty sad statement if you ask me – but I will admit to being glad to get a pretzel fix whenever I want one…

Cruising Thoughts:

• Mexico – if you plan to winter in Mexico before making the jump to the South Pacific, do NOT plan to winter in the Sea of Cortez.  We did a lot of reading, but never found this advice, so thought we should pass it along.  While the the sea is a wonderful and beautiful place (can’t express how much we loved it there), December through March is NOT the time to be there.  You will get constantly pinned down in 20-35 knot winds for days at a time.  There is a reason cruisers leave for mainland Mexico by mid-December! 
• If we had to do over again, we would spend less time in the Marquesas and WAY more time in the Tuamotos.  While the Marquesas were nice, the anchorages can be rough and it all looks very similar after a while.  Since you only have 90 days in FP, we would recommend 2-3 weeks in the Marquesas, 5-6 weeks in the Tuamotos and the remainder in the Society Islands. 
• Do NOT miss Suwarrow!!!  Out of everywhere we’ve been, this was by far a favorite spot and should not be missed.  There is something magic about that place and we wish we could have stayed much longer.
• Skip America Samoa if you are only going there to provision.  The cost to stay (we paid $167 and are US citizens!) completely offsets any money you save on what you buy there.  If you absolutely MUST have your US type products, than make a stop, but don’t do it if you just want to save money.  That said, we loved the Samoan people and the island itself was beautiful once you got out of the dirty and smelly Pago Pago harbor.

What to bring:

• SPARE PARTS!!!  Brett took a lot of grief from everyone on how many spare parts we purchased before we left, but some of them have really saved our bacon (or the bacon on another boat that needed it).  Even so, there were things we didn’t think of.  So if you have the room, bring everything you can think of that might break.
• Lots of flashlights.  You might even consider installing a flashlight in each area of your boat – you will be amazed at how often you need one and it’s great to have one no matter where you are.
• Tools – bring as many as you can in the room you have available.  Think through every major system on your boat and what you would need to fix it when it DOES break. 
• Buy LOTS of batteries if you have battery driven items.  We were shocked at how fast we went through our AA’s.  They also make great trading items.
• Bring lots of paper, pens and pencils for the kids in the islands.  As we got past FP the kids were not asking for money or candy – they just wanted school supplies, which are very expensive to buy here.  I can’t think of anything I would rather give away than something that will help a kid in school.
• Extra t-shirts are good for trading and gifts.  Know that your own t-shirts will all end up stained and in tough shape as time goes on so having some extras is a good thing.
• LOTS of bathing suits – you’ll wear them out quickly and it’s something you need.  Buy good quality swim suits – not cheap ones as they break down really fast in the sun and salt.
• Bring a light weight wet suit or full body micro suit.  Even though the water is warm you get cold pretty quick when doing long snorkel trips.  Also invest in quality snorkel gear.
• Various bug traps and bug bombs – ants, cockroaches, etc.  Even when you are super careful it can still happen.  While we have been lucky to not have any cockroaches (yet!), we know several (clean and careful) boats that do and they are really tough to get rid of if you don’t have the stuff to do it.
• Mosquito coils or candles and LOTS of bug spray as the mosquitos in some areas can be brutal. 
• Extra printer cartridges – you can find them, but they are WAY more expensive than in the US.  Make sure you store them in some sort of plastic as they will often dry up.  It’s great to have a color printer to print a photo or two of a local you’ve friended – they love them!
• Lonely Planet (or similar) guides on anyplace you plan to go.  Knowing something about the places your traveling in makes for a much richer experience.
• Stainless steel polish (to many brands to name one) and a stain remover (like FSR).  Stainless does rust in the tropics and it will color your fiberglass pretty quickly if you don’t keep after it.

What do we wish we’d brought that we scoffed at before leaving?
A washer/dryer installed on the boat.  Laundry turned out to be a really big deal after leaving the wonderful services in Mexico.  Not only has it been ridiculously expensive (we’ve paid as much as $20 US for one load, wash only!), but they don’t always come back any cleaner than they left.  We do almost all of our own laundry on board and only send out towels and sheets, usually for wash only  to keep the cost down.  I can’t tell you how many hours I’ve wasted (with sore arms to boot) doing laundry.  If we had installed one of the small washers available for boats, I would be a much happier gal.

Weather & SSB Radios
Do not leave home without installing an SSB radio.  Sign up for either Winlink (free) or Sailmail (better stations for the South Pacific IMHO) and make sure you understand how to subscribe to weather files – both gribs and text.  These will be unbelievably important to you at all times – you must know and understand how to get them and how to read them.  Your safety depends on it.  You should always look at the weather for several days prior to your departure and if it looks bad – don’t leave!

The added benefits of the SSB radio are you can join local nets to keep track of friends or to let people know where you are.  Also great is the ability to keep in touch via email with loved ones at home when there is no internet.  While internet coverage is fairly good in most places, there are definitely times when you won’t have it and will be very glad you’ve got your SSB.

Top 3 things that break down on cruising boats:

• Refrigeration
• Outboard engines
• Autopilots

Almost every cruising boat we know has had problems with one of those breaking down – if not all of them – so be as prepared as possible with spare parts, refrigerant, tools and more spare parts!

Equipment Recommendations:

• The strongest autopilot you can afford to install in your boat.  Out of all the things that break, the worst one that happens to MANY cruisers is losing your autopilot.  I can’t tell you how many boats we know that have told us horror stories of having to hand steer their boats during long passages when their autopilot when out.  Knock on wood, but we haven’t had any problems yet as we installed a hydraulic autopilot that was oversized for our boat.  We’ve put that piece of equipment through some serious tests and I’ve never been so glad that we spent the money to upsize. 
• Dual refrigeration systems.  We have both engine driven and DC driven and both have failed us multiple times, and currently BOTH are not working (sigh).  We’re hoping to have the parts for the DC one  when some friends arrive to visit, but no clue when our engine driven one will be back online as we have a leak that we haven’t been able to identify.  Hopefully the DC one will get us to New Zealand once we have the parts.  Until then we have our food on several different boats that had some extra room.   It’s amazing how other cruisers will come through to help when needed.  Make sure your system is in great shape and bring lots of spare parts – especially brushes for the motor!
• Two outboards – one large and one small.  Not only is it great to have a backup outboard if one goes down, it’s great to have options.  When we know we’re just cruising around a small anchorage we use our putt putt.  Not only does it use less fuel, but it’s lighter (easier to move) and you don’t need the big fuel tank in your dinghy.  But when we have to go longer distances, it’s great to have the big dog – it gets us up on a plane and we fly across the water, covering long distances in no time.
• Get a good dinghy with a hard bottom and a nice v-shape in the front.  This is your CAR!  You will be spending a LOT of time in this car and it’s shape is very important.  The v-shape in the front (preferably coming up at a nice sharp angle) will keep the water out of the dinghy when it’s rough out and make for a dryer ride.  If only we’d known that before we left…..I wouldn’t have to listen to Brett curse our dinghy on a regular basis (sigh).  Also consider having dinghy chaps made to cover it as it will prolong the life of your “car” considerably.
• A good wind generator is worth its weight in gold.  Same for solar panels.  It’s free energy.  Enough said.
• Lot’s of low draw fans.  You simply can’t have enough of them.  Put them everywhere you spend time – especially by the bed, galley and main salon.  You WILL be hot in many locations and you will be very glad you have them.  I’m sitting in front of one right now in fact!
• A Rocna anchor – I know this will provoke plenty of arguments, but I firmly believe the Rocna is THE BEST anchor on the market.  It holds beautifully in pretty much every anchorage we’ve been in – sand, mud, rocks, you name it.  It has awesome holding ability but still comes up easily – even after 4 days of 30+ knot winds.  It has gotten us through some sleepless nights at anchor while everyone around us was dragging.  I know they are expensive – but they are worth every freaking penny.
• Having a wifi booster on board is great – lets you get internet in the comfort of your own home instead of having to go to the local internet café.  Not a “must have”, but rather a “nice to have”.

Final Pre-departure Advice

• Take the time to have a big sendoff party.  It doesn’t have to be fancy (ours was BYOB) and it allows you to say goodbye to all the people you care about along with giving you a great memory to hold dear during your final days at home and all the stress that comes with it. 
• Accept that you will be VERY stressed out during those final weeks trying to get through your check list.  Brett’s blood pressure was off the charts during this time – but thankfully went right back down after we left.
• Have someone at home to help manage your affairs and be a home base.  Many things (insurance, credit cards, banks, etc) want you to have a US address (no PO boxes allowed) so this really helps.  If you trust them enough to do a power of attorney, I would recommend that too as we have had to use that once already.
• Put your affairs in order.  Make sure your family knows what you want if you are hurt (aka a “living will”) and create a will so that it’s clear what should happen if the worst happens to you.  Hopefully you won’t need it!
• Make sure your health insurance includes a healthy amount of evacuation insurance to fly you to a better hospital.  While we haven’t needed it ourselves, we’ve heard of a few folks that have.
• LEAVE!  Sometimes just leaving the dock is the hardest part, but there comes a time when you have to accept that everything won’t be perfect but it’s just time to go anyway! 
• Be prepared to go through a BIG adjustment period – even if you’ve lived aboard for years.  Leaving all your friends and family behind for the unknown is not an easy thing and it takes some getting used to.  Let yourself have time to adjust.

Wow!  That was way longer than I thought it would be – I guess we had a lot to say after all.  Just keep in mind that we’re still newbies at this and have a lot to learn – but that’s part of the beauty of this life – you never stop learning.  And if some small part of what we’ve learned helps a new cruiser than even better!

Musings after One Year Out - Part I – Personal Growth

Our final view of the beautiful Seattle skyline...

I’ve been doing a lot of thinking lately about how this first year has gone with all of the places we’ve seen so far.  Since leaving Seattle on September 6th, 2012, we have stayed at 92 different anchorages (or marinas) and according to our GPS trip log we have traveled 9238 nautical miles.  That’s a heck of a lot of distance at an average of 6 miles per hour!

Many people think that cruising is a permanent vacation – all playtime and fun on white sand beaches…..and while that is a part of it, I can tell you this sailing life not necessarily the “dream” we all dreamt about before leaving.  So I thought on this “anniversary” of sorts I would take the opportunity to talk about my own thoughts and personal feelings.  To discuss how I have been affected by our travels this year and how much I have changed already – maybe not in the obvious ways you would see if you know me, but changing within, where it counts.

When we first left Seattle, I was both devastated and more excited than I’ve ever been.  Leaving my family and friends behind for the complete unknown was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done.  Brett and I are blessed with an extensive family and a wonderful set of amazing friends that we really enjoy spending time with.  Being very social people, our first few months cruising were pretty lonely even though we were seeing and experiencing many new things.  It was much harder than we expected to meet boats going the same way at the same pace, so was tough to make friends, even when you’re outgoing!  The one reprieve was our friends on S/V Daybreak – a wonderful family whose company and humor was much appreciated and enjoyed.

Thankfully after we’d been in Mexico for a while that started to change, but it really picked up when we started to connect with the other boats that would be making the crossing to the South Pacific.  We have now forged countless friendships with boats we still see fairly often and will likely continue to see as we progress along the “coconut milk run”.  We also continue to make new friends along the way, which happily has our social calendar as full as we want to make it.

But starting out down this new road was much harder than I had expected.  Even though I really thought I was mentally ready for it, for about the first four months I experienced on-again-off-again periods of depression, missing my family and friends tremendously.  Leaving all those relationships behind was so much harder harder than I had anticipated, especially my morning walks with Susan.  Those daily doses of girlfriend time were more valuable than gold and I missed that time more than I would have thought possible.

And it’s not just the relationships you miss.  We are all creatures of comfort and we humans relish the familiar and the safety of the known.  But when you are cruising, nothing is familiar anymore – EVERYTHING is new.  You can’t just drive your car to the local Safeway or Home Depot to get what you need – and often the search for what you need will be an all day affair.  Ironically we don’t even know how comforting that is until it’s gone.  For me, this new paradigm was very difficult to adjust to – I craved the comfort of the known and felt a lot of irrational fear as a result of the overwhelming “unknown” of it all.

The final difficult part for me was the safety factor.  While we lived aboard for several years before departing (to make sure we wouldn’t kill each other in a tight space!), we did so safely tied to the dock at Elliott Bay Marina.  Big wind storm?  No problem as we were totally safe in our snug little cabin tied to the dock.  But not anymore.  Big wind storm now?  Better make sure your anchor is set, let out a little more chain and consider setting up an anchor watch.  This “home” is all you have after all and you must keep it off the rocks no matter what.  Not only that, you have to protect yourself from the possibility of someone else hitting you – which you have almost zero control over.  It’s not easy to live with that knowledge at all times – it takes many months to get used to.

The good news is that eventually you DO adapt to these changes and when you get there, you enter a much happier space – it just takes time.  Thankfully this NEW NORMAL can be pretty exciting and gives you the chance to learn a lot about yourself (good AND bad) while exploring this amazing world we live in.

One thing I have found very enlightening is realizing how I tend to apply my everyday assumptions from home to situations we’ve experienced while traveling, even though I’m in a completely new culture.  For instance, if I was approached by a stranger in Seattle and they just started talking to me and asking where I’m from or my name, I would likely treat it with healthy amount of skepticism, wondering what their “angle” might be and what they wanted from me – possibly even a little fear if it was a dark night and I was out alone.

But in fact in our travels thus far, very few people have wanted anything from us.  While it’s true that some folks are trying to sell you something as they recognize you are a tourist, the majority of them are fairly interested in just talking.  If you buy something – great – but if not, no big deal.  Overall, people have been overwhelmingly kind, respectful, interested in us and a joy to get to know when I’ve gotten past that initial gut response or assumptions.  That guy who seems to be looking at me in a menacing fashion?  After I smile at him I often get a huge smile and a shouted traditional local greeting back.  The farther into the South Pacific we’ve gone, the MORE this seems to be true.  People are very curious about our travels and talking about it has been a great way to open the door into further discussions, giving us a chance to learn more about THEIR culture.  Ironically, many of them (just like at home) think we are crazy to be traveling on our boat!

Another big adjustment for me has been learning how to let people in.  Not just emotionally, but physically too.  While we were staying at Suwarrow I had a bit of a epiphany.  If you’ve read the prior post, you’ll know that we spent a lot of time with Charlie (one of the caretakers) and that he was a big fan of the ladies.  Charlie would be very familiar – often wrapping his arm around me and leaning in very close.  It made me very uncomfortable and felt like a total invasion of my personal space.  But after discussing it with Brett, we decided it was just who Charlie is and that I should try to just go with the flow and not to worry about it.  By learning to accept his behavior, I ended up learning a lot about myself and my own preconceived notions.  We must allow ourselves to trust in the goodness of others instead of assuming the worst.   

Over time I came to understand that this closeness was just part of the way people from this area communicate and show they care – it doesn’t mean anything other than that.  I’ve learned that “islanders” love to touch and hug and express their feelings through closeness – but only when you let them in.  Believe it or not, some of them even give hugs on a scale equal to Brett!  By opening myself up to that “invasion of space” I have begun to have a much richer experience in my relationships with the people we meet.

During these recent musings it’s become very clear to me that as a human race we have far more in common than the differences that can separate us.  We are a complex and amazing race of people – continually changing and adapting to our surroundings and shifting environments.  But we all experienced pride, anger, love and the many other emotions humans have been born with.  It has been fascinating to think not only about how I have changed this past year, but more importantly about how all of these third world countries we’ve visited are adapting as they gain access to the outside world via the internet and Facebook – taking in a virtual title wave of information and deciding how they will make it a part of their “normal” world without losing who they are culturally.  Watching this change race across the globe is both exciting and intimidating.  Witnessing how the internet is creating cultural change in these islands makes me worry that soon there will be no individual culture left, even in the most remote villages.  But at the same time, it’s arrival makes it possible for me to post this blog post!  Ironic, eh?

But as we all know, progress is inevitable and so we can only bear witness to what’s happening inside of our heads and out in the population as we keep exploring new places.  Now that I have finally adapted to this new life (and ironically feel more comfortable at anchor than at the dock now!) I am filled with excitement for the adventures to come and for what I will learn as we continue our journey around the world.

Our view most days - incredible!

Coming soon – Part II, Advice for New Cruisers

Suwarrow – A Dream Come True

One of the beautiful Seven Islands at Suwarrow

In between Bora Bora and America Samoa there is a tiny little island called Suwarrow.  There are no airports, no grocery stores, no townspeople and certainly no hotels.  The only way to get there is by boat and the only way you can stay is if you bring your own place to live.  Suwarrow is part of the Cook Islands and because there is no one living there except for the 2 park rangers – it is completely untouched.  It’s a truly magical place and I can’t help but think if heaven exists on earth, Suwarrow must be it.  

Harry was a great guitar player and
entertained us with songs several times

We arrived early one morning after a 4 ½ day passage from Bora Bora.  We were delighted to see several of our favorite boats already anchored and loved being greeted by them as we made our way in.  Better yet, Charlie – one of the park rangers – soon showed up in his boat to usher us to a primo anchoring spot.  Little did we know then that Charlie would be such a big part of making our stay here so amazing.

After an easy visit from Harry and Charlie to get officially checked into the Cook Islands, we cleaned up the boat and enjoyed several social calls from friends, welcoming us and letting us know there would be a “happy hour” at 4pm that night on the beach.  Turns out BBQ’s and happy hours are a very common occurrence here at Suwarrow as it’s a great way to meet the other boats and good entertainment for Charlie and Harry – who have no internet and very little power – and so are living a “back to the basics” sort of existence.

Charlie's angels - he really loved the ladies!  ;)

While those gatherings were a lot of fun and we thoroughly enjoyed socializing with the other cruisers, it was really the island and the caretakers that provided the magic of this place.  It’s tough to explain, but it’s pretty incredible thinking about how you are out in the absolute middle of nowhere in the Pacific Ocean, experiencing nature as it’s meant to be – without human interference.  We had traveled thousands of miles to be in this place and to live these moments – and I’ll be honest that it was a little mind-blowing at times.

Charlie teaching us how to dance...I
definitely need more practice!

There are so many things to experience here – but the only way to see some of them are to have Charlie take you out on a tour, with you providing the fuel for the trip.  You see, the government only gives these guys a specific amount of fuel and provisions….and unfortunately while we were there they were so low on fuel that they couldn’t even keep their generator running long enough to keep their freezer cold enough.  So they rely on “donations” from visiting cruisers to keep them going, including any fuel we could spare.  So!  If you want to go touring – you provide the fuel!  

So many birds - careful where you step - eggs everywhere!

We took the tour with two other boats (Bravo and Mystic Moon) and it was amazing.  First stop – Bird Island (real name Gull Island), where thousands of birds are roosting and raising their families relatively untouched by man – the circle of life right before your eyes.   You had to be very careful where you walked as there were unguarded eggs everywhere.  It definitely reminded me of our visit to Isla Isabella back in Mexico – with a comparable amount of birds – just not as many trees for them to roost in.  

Another boobie for Jeremy!  ;)

Sooty Terns taking flight on "Bird Island"

One of 100's of baby birds

Charlie with some monster coconut crabs

After the birds it was time to visit “The Seven Islands” home of the infamous coconut crabs – and what a sight to see!  While most of the crabs were in the 8-10 inch range, Charlie brought some out to show us that were HUGE!!!  Check out the difference in coloring between the two crabs in the photo and note the powerful claws that could take your finger off in one quick clip – not to be trifled with for sure!   After some refreshing fresh coconut water (straight from the source) we were off to go snorkeling among some of the most amazing coral I have ever seen – spectacular!  Over all it was a GREAT tour thanks to Charlie and the good company of our friends on Bravo and Mystic Moon.

Kathy (Mystic Moon), Cyndy (Bravo) and I
enjoying some thirst-quenching coconut water

Manta ray photo care of Bravo since BV
doesn't have an underwater camera - thanks guys!

Another amazing sight was snorkeling with huge manta rays that make their home here.  While they can be much larger, the ones we swam with were about 10-12 feet wide and we saw as many as three at time just a ¼ mile from where we were anchored.  Manta Rays are “filter eaters”, so they swim along with their huge mouths open, filtering water through their gills while there are “plates” along the gills that trap the plankton that they eat.  They spend most of their day feeding as it can take up to 60 pounds (according to mantary-world.com) to keep them well fed.  Watching them glide around taking in food is really something – kind of peaceful in a strange way as they are incredibly graceful creatures and we felt very lucky to be able to witness them in the wild.

The beach at Suwarrow - site of many happy hours

Soon many of the boats departed and it was just us and one other boat left.  No complaints here though as Charlie had been hard at work brewing up a fresh batch of coconut beer and we were happily there for its unveiling.  I had expected something that would taste a little like moonshine, so imagine my surprise when it was more like a slightly sweet, delectable and fruity drink – DELICIOUS and DANGEROUS as it really packed a punch!  You definitely had to watch this beverage as it was smooth as silk and Charlie (being the ever-excellent host that he is) was quick to refill your glass whenever it was empty.  Turns out that not only is Charlie an excellent brew-master, he is also a great cook – serving us some of the best fish I have ever eaten.  I managed to pry the recipe out of him and look forward to giving it a try myself.

Brett putting together the projector for movie night

After a few new boats arrived we decided it was time for a movie night – complete with popcorn for everyone.  Charlie put up a white sheet for the “movie screen” and we all enjoyed watching George Clooney ham it up in the classic Coen brother flick – O’Brother, Where Art Thou – which was a big hit.  The coconut beer and popcorn had everyone in fine spirits by the end of the night and we felt great that we could provide some entertainment for everyone.  A request was made to Brett by Harry to show Pirates of the Caribbean the following night.  While Charlie gets most of the attention as he is the livelier of the two caretakers, Harry is one of those quiet, kind souls that you rarely meet and often remember for many years to come – so we were happy to oblige him.

Seattle Yacht Club burgee for the clubhouse

Sadly, all good things must come to an end as it was time to move on and make room for other visitors.  It was a very sad day when we checked out and gave big hugs to both Harry and Charlie – presenting them with an SYC burgee to remember us by and thanking them for making our stay in Suwarrow one of the best memories we have collected to date.  Before we left, Charlie came by with 7 coconuts perfectly cleaned and ready to enjoy as a parting gift – what a sweetheart!  As we exited the anchorage and rounded the island toward the pass, we saw Charlie waving a big flag to say goodbye one last time, followed by the much heard “I love you people” a little later on the VHF when we were out of site.  

Bella Vita anchored at Suwarrow

With tears in our eyes and wonder in our hearts, we gave thanks once again that we are on this amazing journey and able to share our lives with such incredible spirits along the way.

“Stuck” in Bora Bora

Moon shot in Bora Bora

So after several stops in Huahine, Raitatea and Tahaa, including lots of white sandy beaches and crystal clear turquoise waters, we landed at our final stop in French Polynesia – Bora Bora – the place everyone dreams of.  I’m happy to report it’s every bit as beautiful as they say it is – so many great places to anchor we thought, how could we choose?  Little did we know, there was no need to choose – we would end up staying at all of them!

Bella Vita and Cherokee Rose anchored in 8 feet of water!

Originally we had planned to be in Bora Bora for about a week, but Mother Nature apparently had alternative plans for us.  She decided to bring down the hammer weather wise to the land of Bora Bora and make sure that the cruising fleet was going a whole lot of nowhere.  Because of weather delays, we ended up staying two weeks, a full week past our official check out date!

Cool mega yacht named "A" owned by a Russian
gazillionaire - can you say "Bond....James Bond"

Yes, I can hear you all now….”You poor, poor creatures – stuck in Bora Bora!”  I’m sure you are feeling immense sympathy for us right now, eh?  HA!  But alas, the winds were blowing about 20-30 knots for over a week and the seas outside the sweet shelter of the reef were forecast to be in the 15 foot range - so nobody was going anywhere.  With the high winds and grey skies, I can’t even imagine what the poor people who were paying over $800 per night to stay in the over-the-water-bungalows where thinking, but hopefully they were all honeymooners and so didn’t care!

Dinner out before Heiva with Mazu,
Bella Star, Bravo and Mystic Moon

So what’s a cruiser to do when the weather is bad and you can’t go anywhere?  Even though it was windy, it was fairly easy to move from spot to spot, so we spent the time checking out about 7 different anchorages around the island.  We stayed close to the “town”, we stayed across from the town, we stayed in front of expensive bungalows, we ran the gauntlet of some shallow navigation areas to enjoy the back side of the island and stopped at several beautiful spots in between.  We definitely EXPERIENCED Bora Bora and all it had to offer. 

Bathroom...um...décor at Bloody Mary's

Of course a great part of this involved socializing with other cruisers and meeting new folks along the way.  First off was a mandatory lunch at Bloody Mary’s – the famous restaurant in Bora where all the rich and famous stop to eat (their picture board proves it).  Bloody Mary’s is sort of legendary for their burgers and their bathroom décor (think large, male…..um replicas).  It’s here that I must digress a bit….about the burgers people!!!

Lunch at Bloody Mary's with Cherokee Rose

The word on multiple blogs and within the many cruising guides we read was that Bloody Mary’s was THE SPOT to have the best burger in all of French Polynesia.  We even heard this directly from cruisers who had visited in the past, so we were really looking forward to checking it out.  Upon entry we were delighted with the décor of the place – really cool looking – just the place to spend a few bucks on a good beer and burger.  And while I do agree that Bloody Mary’s makes a pretty good burger, I am here to tell you that the burgers at the Maikai Marina kick little Miss Mary’s butt! Yes – I’m throwing down the gauntlet and going against the crowd, but my highly trained taste buds just can’t be wrong.  Not only does Maikai make their own buns, but they cook the burger perfectly medium – it’s melt in your mouth goodness.  To top it off, they are served with skinny fries that are crisped to perfection – who could ask for more? 

The owner of Maikai hard at work mixing drinks

Maybe we hit Mary’s on a bad day, but I found their burger to be overcooked, on the dry side and come on – steak fries????  Really???  Does anyone really like steak fries or do you agree with me that the only reason anyone eats them is to remember why you prefer crisp, skinny fries?  Oh – and the straw that broke the camels back (although the decision was already quite clear), unlike all the other restaurants in town, Maikai offers their perfect burger on their dinner menu – not just for lunch.  Case closed as far as I was concerned.  In fact, that Maikai burger was so good that we budget conscious cruisers actually went back just two days later for another round as we just couldn’t stand missing a repeat performance on our last night in Bora Bora.  We wish them continued success in their bid to take over the world with that perfect burger.

On our anniversary

Okay – so back to what we did while we were “stuck” in Bora Bora.  While making our way around the island some highlights were:  several great dinghy trips with our buddies on Cherokee Rose, including some good snorkeling spots, lots of sting rays and a VERY aggressive huge eel that swam around outside the coral in a very non-eel-like fashion.  There was also a fantastic beach barbeque with about 10 other boats that Brett organized on our anniversary (yep – it’s official – 11 years married now), several excellent gatherings with friends at the Maikai happy hour (buy one, get one free pitchers of local beer – awesome!) and my personal favorite – watching the dancing during the annual Heiva festival. 

Giving it their all...right before the rain!

Heiva is a HUGE deal throughout these islands.  Countless hours of practice by thousands of dancers and drummers from the various islands culminate each year in a competition to be deemed the best – this is VERY serious business here with the awards “bling” to prove it.  While there are many different activities and competitions during Heiva, the dance competitions were the best.  While we all know (or have at least heard rumors) that those Polynesian women can move their hips in some pretty magical ways, the men had some pretty incredible moves of their own.  Each “team” tells a story through chanting, song and movement that relates to the history of the islands, and a big part of what they are judged on is how well they tell that story.  Each group represents a specific town and is comprised of approximately 100 dancers – split equally between men and women, along with a choir of about 10 singers and a band of drummers about 20 strong.  At times the drumming almost reaches down to the most primitive part of you and you’d swear you once knew how to move like that yourself – if only you could just remember.

Heiva dancers in action

Each group performs for about 40 minutes – and I’m talking all-out dancing and music that is carefully crafted, choreographed, practiced and presented to the audience and judges.   It was fantastic to watch and I can’t tell you how hard these folks worked out there – performing their hearts out.  They would be covered with sweat and at times some of them looked like they might pass out.  Most impressive though was that they didn’t let the weather get to them.  Even when it started pouring down rain and the audience members were diving for cover – these dancers still gave it their all.  What an absolute gift to get to witness a real dance competition here in the islands – fantastic!

Say goodbye to baguettes.  :(

So after all the burgers, beers, dancing, exploring and talking about wind and wave heights, there was finally an opening in the weather window and off we went – our 90 days in French Polynesia officially at an end.  All in all our stay in the Marquesas, the Tuamotus and the Society Islands was everything we hoped it would be.  If you ever get a chance to come this way and visit these amazing islands, I suggest you grab it with both hands and hold on for dear life!

Swimming in Tourist Infested Waters – the Good, the Bad and the Ugly about Moorea

The Mountains of Moorea

After watching many a beautiful sunset over the island of Moorea from our anchorage in Tahiti, it was time to find out if it could actually live up to the hype.  This would be the most popular tourist destination we had gone to yet and we were curious how the hotels, cruise ships and tourists would affect the natural surroundings and our interactions with them. 

Spinner dolphins like to leap and spin - hence the name.

First off, let me say that Moorea is an amazingly beautiful place – completely living up to the hype in that area.  There were picture perfect white sand beaches, crystal clear aqua blue water, spinner dolphins, sting rays, and sharks galore and unbelievable sunsets from our lovely spot, anchored in Opunohu Bay.  The brochures don’t lie – it really is everything they promise.

Sailing school made this a busy bay!

Better yet, sailing is alive and well in Moorea.  Right next to where we were anchored, a large sailing camp was operating with scores of kids from 7 to 16 sailing around the large bay every day.  At times as many as 100 sailing skiffs would be in the water, all being managed by about 5 instructors.  It was such a pleasure to watch these kids having fun doing something we love.  Even with the wind blowing 20-25 knots those kids would be out sailing around – sometimes “turtling” the boat – but always managing to get them back upright on their own.  I totally respect that the instructors had a “you turtle, you correct it” policy, but they were always standing by carefully watching to make sure no one got into serious trouble.  The older kids were impressive sailors and could easily compete with the best and brightest we have back home.  We greatly admired what was clearly a very well-run program, spreading the love of sailing to a whole new generation – very cool to see.  Even better when we found out that many of the kids are from poor families and are taken into the program for free – fantastic!

Heavy winds made for lots of fun sailing!

So what’s up with the title you may ask?  Stay with me a little longer…

One of the coolest parts of taking a trip like this is you get to see places that very few people get to travel to.  While there are many other boats doing what we are doing, if you add us all up we’re likely less than a 1000 people traveling to some incredibly remote areas.  So when you arrive in a known tourist mecca, it stands in stark contrast to the places we’ve seen and it makes you a little sad to see how the people that live there have compromised their lives and their surroundings in the quest for the almighty dollar.

Now before people think I’m some sort of tourism Nazi, let me try to explain.  I have absolutely NO issue with vacationing tourists and have been one myself MANY a time!  In fact – I am still a tourist everywhere I go – doing it by boat certainly doesn’t change that.  I firmly believe that everyone has the right to visit amazing places like this and to stay at fabulous beach front hotels if they can afford it.  In fact – I would HIGHLY recommend a visit to any one of the Society Islands as they are incredibly beautiful and definitely would make a “dream vacation” for anyone willing to take the long flights involved to get here. 

What bothers me however is seeing the nature of the area changed to create a “tourist attraction” when it’s completely unnecessary.    Let me give you an example that has made a strong impression on me….

Lots of turtle sightings in from our boat.

One of our favorite activities when it’s time to play is to go snorkeling.  Getting out there in the water and swimming among the sea life is a very special thing.  Observing sea life in its natural habitat, undisturbed by humanity is one of the biggest gifts we’ve had on this trip.  We have spent a lot of time in the water and you definitely develop a huge appreciation for the ocean and its creatures after observing them for hours on end. 

But when you have 1000’s of tourists in one small area, it can’t help but change the ecosystem to some extent.  For the hotels around Opunohu Bay, one of the big attractions is swimming with the sting rays.  Sounds really cool right?  And let me be the first to tell you – IT IS COOL!  It’s amazing in fact!  You stand in this shallow sandy area and you are literally swarmed by sting rays.  They swim around you and even shimmy right up the side of your body, back or even your chest, rubbing against you almost like a cat!

Feeding the sting rays...

But why are they swarming you?  Because they are used to be fed several times a day by the big tour groups brought out by the hotels – as many as 100 “guests” will be in the water at one time – feeding the sting rays.  And it happens twice a day, every day but Sunday. 

This is a perfect example of how the local ecosystem has been completely changed by the tourist industry.  It is not normal for sting rays to come up and rub themselves against you.  Normally they have a very healthy natural fear of human beings!  But here in Moorea they are so used to being fed that they actually recognize the tour guides, putting on a show worthy of Sea World – even taking food right from the tour guides mouths.

"Swimming" with the sting rays...see how it's rubbing me?

Now – as I said, I enjoyed “petting” the sting rays as much as the next tourist – because we are ALL tourists in this sort of situation.  It was incredible feeling their skin and having them practically climb up the front of me.  But later on, when I started to really think about it, it left me feeling sad that we humans have created this environment for the profit of the hotel industry.  I am not so naive to think that this is not happening all over the world, nor am I some crazed tree hugger.  But having been out here for almost a year, I have had the privilege of seeing some amazingly untouched areas and it has changed the way I think about this sort of thing. 

Several days later Brett and I were snorkeling in Huahine and came across four beautiful sting rays buried in the sand.  As we swam a little closer, they unearthed themselves and silently glided away in front of us – absolute poetry in motion.  Watching them as they are MEANT to act was so much better than our previous interaction that I just had to write about it.  It makes me want to convey (my personal opinion) that it’s not natural (or good) for us to modify nature in this way or to support tourism that creates this sort of environment.  Trust me that swimming with sting rays FOR REAL – is so much better than a manufactured experience!  Why must humans always try to “improve” on something that is already perfect?

Okay – I’m putting away the soap box, but just a little food for thought.

Yet another amazing sunset from Opunohu Bay