svInfini

[s]
[c1]p:11°02.75'S:141°50.99'W
[c2]pd:019|5.4|16.0|0-1
[d]2010-06-30 16:01Z

June 28 - What we did the last two days...

Position: lat S13deg34min; longW142deg44min. I've battled what turned out to be a nasty airlock in the intake to the engine saltwater pump. It all started when we noted no water flow thru the "pee hole" which empties into the cockpit scupper (more boats should have these "pee holes" as a way to determine engine water flow without resorting to hanging overboard and trying to see the exhaust.) Starting at the thru hull, I traced the intake line to the strainer, then to the pump, then to the oil cooler; you'd think this would have been an easy fix. No way. There was great flow thru the seacock, but very little out of the strainer onwards. What??!! Finally, after verifying the integrity of the pump, which meant dismantling it from the block, changing the impeller, and ensuring said impeller was rotating on the shaft (seen when the pump cover's off and the engine is quickly "goosed" ie:started), I back filled all the hoses and pump, cracked the hose clamps on the seacock (only try this with the seacock closed) and made sure there was water flow from the hose that attached to the oil cooler all the way back thru the pump, the strainer, and down to the seacock. Finally...good water flow with the engine started, and a great sigh of relief. We have no idea why we would suddenly develop an airlock, but...all cruisers know shit happens. We're presently enroute to the Marquesas. Weather has been pretty good, if you don't count the squalls and periods of no wind last night, and it's blowing 18-20 but pushing us off our rhumb line further in a north direction than we want (we'd like to be going northeast). Hopefully, we'll get a favorable wind shift tonight or tomorrow which will allow us to aim more at our destination, Fatu Hiva. Although, we've kind of decided that any landfall in the Marquesas would be really good in these conditions, so we'll see what the next 2-3 days bring!

June 27 - General thoughts on the Tuamotus

We really enjoyed the Tuamotus atolls. They offer something for everyone: isolated atolls or atolls with small villages, depending on your mood; interesting navigation thru the passes with the necessity of timing your entry/exit for slack water, not an easy task even in good weather; great diving and snorkling, with schools of fish, shark and colors that are a photographer's dream; lovely beaches and reefs, with the opportunity to go shelling and lobstering; wonderful people who welcome you with smiles, from the adults to the kids; black pearls, which are only to be found produced by the local oysters; and last, not to be forgotten, fresh baguettes and croissants, depending on where you are, that are absolutely delicious! We've only been to three atolls (Makemo, Fakarava and Toau) but we think with careful navigation, GPS, and good charts, the atolls of the Tuamotus should be on many more cruisers itineraries. Also, one other wonderful resource deserves special mention. "The Tuamotus Compendium" was put together by our friends aboard the sv Soggy Paws (Dave and Sherry) and Visions of Johanna (Bill, Johanna, and Gram). It can be found on either vessel's website, and offers a wealth of up to date information for those cruisers planning on spending time here. Check it out!

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June 26 - Goodbye Fakarava!

We raised anchor about 0730 after untwisting our chain from multiple coral heads. Sue had to snorkel to direct me steering the boat as I went back and forth from the helm to the windlass to raise the anchor. We exited the south pass without problem, and had a very nice day sailing in winds of 14-16 knots. We're enroute to Fatu Hiva, Marquesas and are very excited to be underway again. We're checking in with the Pacific Seafarer's Net during this 500+ nm passage, and you can follow our progress at the Pangolin.nz internet site by looking for my Ham call sign, KJ4IHF, and following the info there.

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June 23 - Fakarava south pass - It finally happened...

We've owned Infini for about twelve years and we finally had someone come up to us and recognize her from when her previous owners, Chris and Laura, from whom we bought the boat, had circumnavigated during their four years of ownership. Joanie and Guy, presently on their 49' Trintella named Pickles, along with their four children, had previously (before kids) owned a boat named Forte, and they and Infini kept meeting up in various parts of the world. We've always wondered if anyone would recognize Infini from her previous time around, and it's taken us this long to have that question answered! Meanwhile, we're waiting for a favorable weather window to leave Fakarava so we can gain some easting in order to turn towards the Marquesas (NE). It's been blowing mostly from the E-NE, so we'll wait for the SE winds, expected in the next couple of days, to return before departure.
(The picture is of Nakia at anchor here with us for awhile.)

svInfini

[s]
[c1]p:16°26.95'S:145°22.02'W
[c2]pd:189|0.0|16.0|0-1
[d]2010-06-22 16:06Z

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June 20 - Tonae, Fakarava Atoll, Tuamotus - A nice anchorage

Lat 16deg15.558S/Long 145deg32.851W Today was one of those days that started off with promise, deteriorated in weather conditions that sucked, and ended up in the discovery of a place not even mentioned in the guides. We had departed the north anchorage of Fakarava for what was to have been an uneventful motor sail down to the south pass anchorage. About a third of the way down the wind picked up until it blew 22 knots on our nose, accompanied by a short two foot chop that would have been OK, but the tide changed against us and we were doing about 1.5 knots over ground. Dark clouds were scudding past and it was obvious we weren't going to make our destination. We had previously anchored in a spot mentioned in Bonnette's "Guide to Navigation and Tourism in French Polynesia" but I recalled a beautiful small sandy beach cove nearby that anchorage that looked enticing, so we turned around and took another hour to get to that spot. What a great place (lat/long noted above). We dropped anchor in 31' of sand, there weren't too many bommies, and we listened to the wind howl in the rigging. The most I saw in one of the many squalls that poured rain on us was 33 knots, but we were snug and secure behind a small promontory of land that protected us from the NE winds in the squalls, without uncomfortable swell. We spent a very pleasant night in a beautiful spot; a nice end to the day!

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June 17 - Fakarava

We saw Jon off for Papeete today; thankfully the airport there has reopened and resumed regular flights after being shut down by a strike in Tahiti. How many people can say they've been dropped off at the airstrip by dinghy! His visit seemed to go by so quickly, and we all have great memories of scuba dives here at Fakarava as well as at Toau, snorkeling, shelling, farkel games, back gammon games, and introducing him to other cruisers. The cruising lifestyle is so different than most others, and Jon adapted to ours and had a chance to unwind and relax after completing a very busy first year of medical school at the University of Central Florida. The V berth sure looks empty without him! We took lots of pictures, shared many great meals and enjoyed his company immensely! He returns to Florida rested and tanned, and ready to resume life in the big city!

June 10 - Fakarava Atoll, Tuamotus

We really enjoyed our time in Toau. Our friends on Soggy Paws were very helpful in getting Jon and Sue out diving a few times. It's been 9 years since Jon last dove; so the refresher course and gear check from Dave & Sherry were much appreciated. What adventures...the amount and variety of schools of fish and coral...the wall and drop off into the abyss was very dramatic. We also went on a few dinghy expeditions into the lagoon with friends...and found a beach/reef area to beach comb; we came across a few small black tip sharks, a few crabs, one flounder, and a couple eels (man, are they fast!). We returned with many cowry shells, augers, pencil urchin spines and lots of shells we don't know the name of. We really need to buy a good shell book! Fortunately, our friend Gerald, aboard sv Whiskers from South Africa, is a shell expert, and was able to help us identify many of our finds.
One afternoon we had a Seven Seas Cruising Association (SSCA) gam, with four boats represented (Infini, Whoosh, Nakia and Soggy Paws), along with 'guests' from two other boats (Tutatis and Whiskers). The main topic of discussion was, what else, weather, and we shared information and opinions about this most important subject. Learning the idiosyncracies of the weather here in French Polynesia is challenging, and just when you think you understand the patterns, something comes along to add uncertainty and crazy conditions to your day!
Valentine and Gaston had 17 of us for dinner last night. We had gone in early to play bocce ball. There were three teams of two competing in a round robin. We also gave Gaston a new beach volleyball, and he and Jon immediately got into a game. For supper we had rice, fried fish, seared ahi tuna, poisson cru, and grilled lobster, topped off by chocolate covered coconut cake. We all rolled into the dinghy and got back to Infini at 1100....
The boats in Anse Amyot are going in several directions. We motor sailed back in 6-8 knots of wind to Fakarava, as the SE trades are supposed to fill in a few days, making the trip back here that much more of a chore (strong trade winds right on the nose). Many of the other boats were waiting for just that kind of wind to go to Papeete. And, as always, a few new boats showed up every day; it's the season! Back anchored near the village of Rotoava in Fakarava, we saw our friends on Stray Kitty who we hadn't seen since the Galapagos, as well as our new friends aboard Trim, Tutatis, and Anthem, the latter sailed by a guy named Jack from St. Petersburg, Fl. It's a small world out there...

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svInfini

[s]
[c1]p:15°48.20'S:146°09.16'W
[c2]pd:069|0.0|16.0|0-1
[d]2010-06-06 16:05Z

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June 4 - Anse Amyot, Toau. Happy Birthday Michael!

What a wonderful birthday! Sue cooked multigrain pancakes and we had them with the real maple syrup, unavailable here, that Jon had brought with him. We then went for a beach walk and exploration, shelling and going to the ocean side of a neighboring motu. Jon and I then helped several boats with their mooring lines as they came into the area. We later snorkeled the reef nearby, seeing eels, grouper, and multitudes of tropical fish. For dinner, Valentine and Gaston had suggested we use the restaurant area for a cruisers potluck, and all the boats in the anchorage participated. There was freshly caught mahi mahi, chicken stew, rice, couscous, cornbread, baguettes, pate on homemade bread, cole slaw and other food there. Everyone sang Happy Birthday to me in English and then French, and one couple even sang it in Portuguese! For dessert, there was chocolate covered coconut cake, an upside down pineapple cake, a banana tort, and a peach broulee. We were all stuffed! Valentine and Gaston gave me a beautiful shell necklace and a perfectly polished pearl shell, and our cruiser friends gave me unexpected, and much appreciated, gifts of rum, fishing lures, a red flare and an LED finger flashlight! We then watched a slide show on Sherry's computer of their recent dives; just beautiful! A very memorable evening, and tomorrow morning there's a beach clean up scheduled at 1000. Always something going on, and people coming and going here in Anse Amyot.

June 3 - Anse Amyot, Toau Atoll

We left at 0630 and had a great sail to the northwest corner of Toau, entering a small cul de sac which has about a dozen moorings and a small restaurant run by a couple, Valentine and Gaston, who have become cruiser favorites for their renown hospitality and generosity. There's lots of places to dive and snorkel, beaches to go shelling at, and the all weather protection is very good.
Jon caught a small wahoo on the way...fresh fish for the first time in awhile!

June 2 - Fakarava

Our son, Jon, arrives today. We started walking to the airport but a truck stopped before we had gotten far and offered us a ride there. It was great seeing Jon again, and he gets to stay two weeks with us! It started raining a bit just when we collected his bags, but, again, we were offered a ride back to the quay where the dinghy was, so everything worked out great. Tonight we're going into town to hear some music, and will eat at a roulette here, at what I refer to as the "hippie van," as it's painted with large multi-colored flowers all over! Our friends Jack and Patricia from sv Whoosh came into the anchorage today, so they'll join us as well as the crews of LeuCat and Beaujolais for dinner.