Friday, July 30, 2010

New Pictures


Hello All,
I have just added some pics to the Tuamotu Album and have created another one so take a look.I am very slowly getting caught up here.

PEACE

Samoan Bus Ride


Hello All,
The last few days have been pretty uneventful.I got my engine parts on yesterday and it went basically with out a hitch.This is suppose to be a fix for the seawater that I was finding in my engine several times.I will have to go out sailing to see if it works so I will keeps my fingers crossed.I am expecting more parts coming in the mail so I can get this boat ready to go for the next port.
I thought I would take the time today to tell you about the Samoan bus service here.Your probably asking your self,this guy must be really board to write about a bus service.It is extremely unique to all of the Islands I have seen so far.I will explain,Each bus is owned by the driver.He takes a truck chassis,usually a dual axle truck,chops the roof off only leaving the windshield in most cases,stripes everything off to the framerails and then goes to the lumber yard and builds the coach all out of wood.They are very careful to make all of the corners rounded and then they cover the whole coach they have just constructed with what looks like ,airplane tin.they put a custom paint job on it and outfit a stereo with at least 400 watts of amps,sub woofers and all.Some I have been on even have TVs mounted with the driver chooseing some kind of DVD,usually a sports game of some kind.Now with all of that sound power your probably wondering what kind of music is played at 10,000 decibels.Most of it is some kind of dance music and some sounds like local polynesian artists.I think there is a competition between drivers as to who has the coolest and the loudest bus and after all of that work and all of that stereo gear they will drive you all over the Island for 1 dollar.On request they will leave the main route and drop you at home or at a business.For 2 bucks I can go 10 miles into the next town to shop or whatever and return.It is an awesome system and I have met and talked to a few of the drivers and they are very proud of there business and are always willing to help out if you dont know where to go for something.There are lots of them to,i dont know how many but you only stand at the bus station for about a minute and if your not at the bus station and see one coming you just flag him down and he will stop in the middle of the road and pick you up.
This place has lots of flaws for a visiting sailor but the public transportation and the people are the greatest.



PEACE

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Waterfalls and Golf Courses




Hello All,
Yesterday Jon and I went back to the waterfall we visited last week.We took along Steve from Horizon,he hasent got out much since getting here so we showed him around a little.He is originally from Las Vegas.He came along for a few months on the boat with his dad and step mom just to get out of town.He said work is very slow in Vegas right now.We all took a nice swim and shower in the pool,it felt very good to bath in 70 degree water.Today Jon and I went to look for the Golf Course here in town.Mom emailed me the other day and told me there was a course here and asked if I could go get a Pago Pago Golf ball or some kind of memorabilia.We found it this afternoon,it looks very nice and is very big.We went to the club house and they were sorry to tell me that they were out of all the souvenir stuff.I took a bunch of pictures so that will have to do mom.
I received my parts package in the mail so I will be busy here the next few days putting stuff together on the boat.I am still working with the guy to get my radar pole sent and it looks like it should be going out tomorrow or the next day.
I am trying to keep things interesting here and have done ok at it.Now the boat wants some attention so its time to get to work now.
Ok, I will keep you posted as usual.


PEACE

Sunday, July 25, 2010

Sunday Sunday

Hello All,
There is not much going on today.Jon went out last night with a few of the cruisers,I stayed in and watched some DVDs mom had sent me.I received a few of the packages I need to fix up the boat.I am still waiting on a few more parts.Jon and I slept in this morning and Delphine went to church.I worked on the charging system on the boat this afternoon and got it all working good.I still need to fix the radar pole.I have been in contact with the company that builds it and i hope they get it sent off tomorrow.I will do some more maintenance tomorrow and do what I can till the rest of the stuff gets here.
We havent returned back to the waterfall yet,maybe sometime this week.
That is about all I know for now so i will catch you later.


PEACE

Saturday, July 24, 2010

Waterfalls

Hello All,
Jon and I replaced the batteries in the boat this morning under a beautiful sky and 86 degrees.Needless to say I was sweating alot,like gallons.So afterwards we took a little bus ride not far away and went to a waterfall with a pool at the bottom.We both took a swim and cooled off,it felt aweome.After returning we took a little nap and went out for a few beers with steve the son of the owners of Horizon,a Hans Christian 38 out of San Deigo and Ian, a british guy that is looking for a boat to the states.We had an awesome time and tomorrow i think we will all go up to the water fall together and i will get some pictures this time.
It is late so I will let you all go but I have a few things on my mind so keep in tune for some educational blogs of American Samoa.
Talk to you later.


PEACE

Thursday, July 22, 2010

In Limbo

Hello All,
I have been trying for days to get my radar pole coming and the guy hasent answered my emails in a few days.I will try to get a hold of him tomorrow.I took a bike ride to the next town which is 6 miles away.I have been looking for replacement batteries for the boat.The gel cell batteries I have had on the boat since I put it together in 2006 are finally showing signs of wear and are not holding a charge anymore.I have been everywhere in this town and have finally found some that i think will work.They are not what I really want but they should do the job.
We had a sun downer with Compass Rose tonight and had a good visit.They are suppose to leave tomorrow and head south,basically the direction we are heading,they will just be ahead of us a few weeks.
I have been a little stressed trying to get all this stuff done and get back underway as soon as we can.Everything is good and all is well but i guess I have reached the mid way cruise blues.
I will write more tomorrow and let you know what happens.


PEACE

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

relaxing in Pago Pago


Hello All.
We didnt do much today.I got some parts ordered and they are on there on there way.I got the bike out today and rode around some.It poured down rain basically all day.I have learned if you dont like the weather here just go anyway because if you dont you will never get anything done.I checked the weather and it looks like we are gonna get rain for the next few days.I got all my parts ordered and should be on there way.My radar pole is the only thing I havent got coming but I got an email from the company this morning and I am hoping they will help me out on replacing it.
thats about it for now so I will talk to you soon.

P.S. the pic is from the climb we did up the mountain the other day.
PEACE

Sunday, July 18, 2010

Alava Mountain


Hello All,
I am sitting here at the McDonalds having breakfast and useing the internet.For some reason the signal got really weak on the boat so I came up here.Yesterday morning we set off on a hike up to the top of Alava Moutain.It is one of the highest peaks here on the Island and it overlooks the whole bay.When we set off it was raining and slightly overcast.I was hoping it would clear by the time we made the 5 mile hike.The trail is maintained by the park service and it follows up the ridge of the mountain so the climb is pretty gradual.The trail was pretty muddy but manageable.When we got to the top you couldnt see anything for all the fog.It did clear a few times so I got some decent pictures of the harbor and some of the bay.When we returned to the boat all of us were beat.We got an invite to go out last night with Compass Rose to one of the clubs but we passed on the offer and just stayed in and watched a movie.My legs are still sore,I guess I need to climb up mountains more often.
I am not sure what we will do today but we will think of something.
Thats all for now.

P.S. I have been slowly adding more pics in my Photo Albums so keep a look out for some new ones.


PEACE

Friday, July 16, 2010

Exploring the Island



Hello All,
Jon and I jumped on a bus yesterday and went to the nearest town to us called Ta funa.It has a little more to offer than Pago Pago.It has a few big grocery stores a Napa and DHL.We went around all over to see about getting some things for the boat and there is very little marine places here.Pago Pago used to have a few but the tsunami wiped out alot of the businesses last year and they are very slow to rebuild.I will have to order in most of the stuff we need which is fine ,they have a USPS here and a DHL.When we returned to the boat Jon and Delphine went up to McDonlds to use the internet and I went to visit Robert and LouAnn on Compass Rose.they are a couple from Maui that we met on our first day.We had a fish dinner that there son and girlfriend prepared and it was awesome.Later last night Jon and Delphine showed up and we all had a few way past sundowners lol.We left there boat at midnight and came home to bed.
Today is Dephines birthday so I made a egg and bacon breakfast and then we all jumped on the bus and headed out to a beach bar about 5 miles from here.Compass Rose joined us and we had a few drinks and returned just a little bit ago.
Tonight we are having a pot luck dinner on the dock with all the cruisers present.It should be a good time.
Thats all for now.I will let you know how the night went.

PEACE

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Pago Pago



Hello All,
We got visited by all of the offials but the health department so we are basically officially checked in.Every one was very nice and it was painless.It poured down rain this morning but cleared up this after noon so Delphine and I took a little walk and found the Laundromat and looked for the Pago Pago Yacht Club but I guess they went out of business a few months ago.That kinda bummed me out.Tomorrow we will visit the Harbor master and let them know we are here and I have been working on getting parts sent here.It has been a pretty mellow day for us so far.Tomorrow I will hit the bricks and get stuff rolling here.Lots to do to the boat and lots of exploring tgo do.

P.S. The pic i posted in the last blog was all of us in Penrhyn going to church.I also have been posting more pics on the site under the Marquesas Album.The internet here is faster than French Polynesia but not by much.

In American Samoa


Hello All,
We made it to American Samoa.We havent checked in yet but we have got a warm welcome from the cruisers that are here.We dont know much about the place yet but we will have time to explore around.We had a nice dinner on the dock with the cruisers,they are from all over the world and very nice people.Tomorrow I will order parts that I need I hope to get them in a week or 2.Lots of places to see here,its a big Island with lots to offer.
I am tired so I will let you know what we are up to the next few days.


PEACE

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

13 44.65S 168 58.05W

Hello All,
We are still motoring and are 106 miles to Samoa. It was an uneventful evening with stars shining all night and this morning a beautiful sunrise followed by a hot day with little to no wind. I did put up my big reacher sail to try to move us along a little faster. I think it helped. As of now we should be getting in the harbor before dark, I hope. We are all excited to get there, this will be our 8th day out on the water from Penrhyn so we are counting the miles.
I will let you know when we get in tomorrow night.
Talk to you later.

PEACE

Sunday, July 11, 2010

12 47.64S 166 27.47W

Hello All,
It has been a very beautiful day here but I think we deserve it after all of the weather last night. We had squall after squall but this time with wind and rain and lots of both from all different directions. It got so bad that I started the engine up and we got the main sail down and just started motoring. After all the weather had past it was flat calm with all the stars shining. The wind never returned to any sailing capacity so here we are 280 miles from Samoa burning diesel. The weather fax shows no wind for the next 3 days and I think I would get thrown from the boat if I said we will just bob around till the wind comes back lol.
That's it for now. I will talk to you soon.


PEACE

12 11.27S 165 04.40W

Hello All,
We made 102 miles in 24 hours,not great but pretty good. Last night we had a few squalls but they had no wind and we saw lightning, it never hit the ground but it sure lit up the sky. This morning the wind picked up to 28 knots for a little while so we were moving right along. It soon died off to 15 then down to 10, then just a little bit ago some stormy clouds moved in from the south east and brought 20 knots winds with them so we are moving right along once again. We are 360 miles from Samoa and we are counting the miles. This crossing has not been one of my favorite but I have had some real good ones so I guess these are the ones that build the most character. We are all doing well and getting lots of sleep so all is good so far.
I will keep you updated as usual so I will talk to you soon.


PEACE

Friday, July 9, 2010

11 33.75S 163 35.12W

Hello All,
We got hit by a bunch of squalls last night, mostly wind and just a little rain. I had the morning shift and got to see a beautiful sunrise. After it got light I looked at my fix to the radar pole to make sure all of that was holding together and right at the top of the pole,basicaly out of reach under way, I spotted another crack starting in the pole right below the radar. I got Jon up and I did a fix with vise grips, wire ties and the boat hook again. So far it looks okay but I am keeping a close eye on it. I have a plan C if it comes to that, I just need to make it to Samoa, then it can break or do what ever it wants to do. I am going to take a lot of pleasure in calling the manufacture of the radar stand and tell them what kind of peace of #$%$ they sold me and that I will get a new one sent to me for free.
That was the excitement for the day and I hope the rest of the trip is so boring I won't be able to stand it lol.
We are making good time so far and the wind has been excellent. I hope we can keep the pace.
That's all for now, I will talk to you soon.


PEACE

10 42.61S 161 37.17W

Hello All,
We arrived at Manaihiki this morning at 0900. It was blowing 25 knots and the sea was at 6 feet or more. The anchorage was way to rough so I decided to move on. We were a little bummed out but the weather did not cooperate. You have to anchor on the ocean side of this atoll so it has to be decent weather. Our next stop will be American Samoa. I hope to make it a 6 day crossing but we will see when we get there. The wind is between 20 and 25 knots so we are moving right along between 4 and 5.5 knots. I have a double reefed main and the stay sail up.
We had such a great time in Penrhyn, I am really glad we came to the Northern Cooks so not all is bad. On the happier side of things we are looking forward to some fresh food and a cold beer lol. I have to get some stuff fixed on the boat to before I venture any further.
I will keep you up to date as usual so I will talk to you soon

PEACE

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

09 56.81S 160 07.21W

Hello All,
We are having a great days sail. The wind turned slightly to the south so we are on a beam reach. It is blowing up to 25 knots so we took down the yankee and put a double reef in the main and stay sail and we are still doing 5 to 5.5 knots. I want to time this right so we will get to Manihiki in the day light and so far it looks like that will work out for us. Jons Birthday is today so Delphine made him some bread and I let him call home for a few minutes on the sat phone. All is going well, we have just been resting today and getting ready for another moonless night. I hope there we be no squalls this evening but I think that is to much to ask so we will just make the best of it, after all there are worse places to be in the world I am sure.
Manihiki is an atoll but you can not enter inside the lagoon so we will be anchoring on the lee side on the outside so we will see how it all works out.
Well that's all for now, I will let you know how it all goes tomorrow.

PEACE

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

09 06.7S 158 20.62W

Hello All,
We are underway to Manihiki Atoll. It was very windy this morning so when we arrived in Omoka to check out I just jumped in the dingy and had Jon and Delphine run the boat out into the lagoon. The anchorage was very rough and I didn't want to take the chance of getting the anchor hung up in the coral. I got all of the paperwork all done then went and said good bye to a few folks we met while we were anchored there last week. It took me a few hours to make the rounds and then I had the boat meet me back at the dingy landing. We threaded our way through the coral heads and back to the pass. Once we got out side we got everything put away and got the sails ready to go. When I got on coarse I realized that we were going to be on a broad reach again so we ran up the working jib first and it was a little slow so we ran up the yankee and that worked much better so we are running under one sail again. It is working out fine though, we are making good speed and the seas are manageable. We should be in Manihiki Thursday morning.
Well I best get going, I have the 2300 to 0200 watch so I will get some sleep. Talk to you later.

PEACE

Still at Penrhyn

Hello All,
We are still in Penrhyn. After saying all our good byes we got back to the boat at 1700. We got some really nice gifts from everyone in the village and I traded a few things off the boat for some really nice necklaces and other things. We went back at 1800 and had dinner with Penui and his wife and family. They are so generous and we are very good friends in the short amount of time we have been here. I will miss there company and hospitality. We will head across to Omoka Village in the morning to check out and say our good byes there. I would suggest this place to any cruiser looking for a beautiful Island and wonderful people to visit with. I am so glad we trekked this far up north to be here.
That's all for now I will write while we are under way tomorrow.


PEACE

Monday, July 5, 2010

Hello All,
It is another beautiful day in paradise. Yesterday we went to church, it was a beautiful service and the singing was amazing. After the service we had a visit with one of the young families. They told us who was related to who and how they got here if they weren't born here. We told them all about our trip and what my plans are. After a few hours we came back to the boat. Jon and I fixed the radar pole, it took us about 4 hours to do the job. It looks like it will hold up nicely, I hope. Today we are leaving so we will get the boat ready to go and then say our goodbyes. We have to go back over to Omoka to check out with customs so I hope to be under way by this after noon.
We will be heading for Manihiki, a small atoll south east of us. You have to anchor outside the lagoon as there is no entry inside so weather permitting that will be our next land fall.
I will talk to you all soon


PEACE

Wet in Penrhyn

Hello All,
I missed writing you last night because we stayed up late and watched a movie so I am up early to let you know whats been going on. Yesterday morning we went out side the lagoon and went fishing with Penwe, he is the one we gave a ride across with his wife and little girl the other day. Jon caught a Wahoo and I caught a barracuda. They were not huge fish but we were pleased. It poured down rain on us while we were out and it continued to rain all morning. It is the hardest rain I have seen since being in the South Pacific. At 1300 Penwe came out in his boat and told us they were about to have the birthday party so we all got ready to go and headed to the beach. As soon as we got there the rain stopped, only after getting soaked on the way in. They had a nice little ceremony before we all got to eat 2 tables full of food. We hung out a few hours and visited. Penwe got out a yacht log book they have had in the village since 1987. It was very interesting seeing all the people that have come through here. He let us borrow the book to put our own entry in. Some of the people did nice drawings of there boats and lots of pictures so we will have to do something special as well.
The village invited us to go to church this morning so I better get ready to go. I will write more later.


PEACE

Saturday, July 3, 2010

Fishing with the locals

Hello All,
I am up early this morning getting ready to go out fishing Wahoo outside the reef with a few locals this morning. They will be by to pick Jon and I up at 0600.
Yesterday morning all of us went in to have coffee and met a few more people. I would tell you all of there names but I forget them right after I hear them and there is 40 people that live here so we would have to stay a few weeks for me to get all of them memorized.
After hanging out in the village for a few hours Jon and I were asked if we wanted to go fishing for what they call Milk Fish, they are very small fish they put in coconut milk and onions and a few other things and you east it raw. We have had it in French Polynesia before and it is very tasty. So we headed back to the boat and they came by to pick us up. We went about a mile to another motu where there is a lagoon that only fills at high water and they bring a net that looks a lot like a gill net the fisherman use in Alaska and they drag this around by hand in the lagoon. The water is only about 2 feet deep with a muddy bottom. The fish get caught in the net and you go pick them out. It is really basic. We must have came away with 100 of those little fish. After that we helped them clean all of them, it took about an hour with 4 of us doing it.
After they dropped us back at the boat all 3 of us went in to say hello and hang out. They fed us dinner with the new catch and some Lobster and rice.
There was a dessert they fed us also that is made with what they call a green coconut. The husk almost tastes like a turnip. They dig out this husk with a special metal spoon then make mush out of it, add a few ingredients and you have a pudding like treat.
We are having a really good time with these folks and they are so kind. Today one of the guys is turning 21 so Delphine is baking the cake and a few people have came from the other side to help celebrate. We are really looking forward to this and will be so much fun.
I need to get ready to go so I will talk to you all soon

PEACE

Friday, July 2, 2010

Anchored in Te Tautua Village

Hello All,
The wind came down yesterday as predicted by the weather service and it was a nice quiet night on anchor in Omoka. The weather held through the morning and so we were planning a trip to the east side of the Lagoon. Delphine and I went to the beach in the morning and took a 2 mile walk out by the airport where we met up with Warwick, who is a New Zealander that came here 30 years ago and raised a family. He has a little store and can exchange money. We bought some food from him and had a nice visit. On our way back we met up with another local that needed some repairs to his skiff and a few other little things. I promised him I would help him out with some stuff I had on the boat so when we got back I gathered up some tools and went back to give him a hand. I finished doing the work and when I got back to the dingy a family that had to come to town for some business needed a ride back home across the lagoon so we had some company on the trip. It was very cool because he knew the route well and we could avoid all the dangers in the way. They had there little daughter with them and we made it over here in 2 hours with out a hitch. They were so nice and have invited us to their home for the weekend to hang out. Delphine is even going bake a cake for one of the guys in the village that is going to be 21 on Saturday. We also were visited after getting anchored by one of the locals. He invited us over for coffee in the morning. I would have to say I questioned my decision to come this far out of the way to see another atoll but after the last few days of visiting and getting to know every one I would have to say I did good.
Well it is late and we have a big day ahead of us so I will say good bye.


PEACE

Thursday, July 1, 2010

Windy Day on Penrhyn

Hello All,
I woke up this morning at 0600 to 30 knot winds and wind waves at 3 feet. I thought the weather was suppose to come down but it took its time. We are on the leeward side of the lagoon so we got the worst of it. I plan to move across tomorrow so it will be much better.
Jon took a trip to the east side of the lagoon with some locals this morning in their skiff. I wanted to go but I didn't want to leave the boat for that long. He went over with Robin, one of the guys that checked us in and with a local doctor just to do a check up for the 40 residents that live there in the village. He had an awesome time and they fed him fresh fish, lobster and all kinds of other foods. When he returned we went to the beach and went to visit Alex and his family. He changed some money for me so I wanted to go say hello and get my cash. Another boat showed up from the other anchorage on the east side from California, Mike and Mary and they were there visiting with Alex and his wife. We visited with all of them for an hour and then Mike and Mary headed out to go to Samoa. They said their good byes and we stayed to visit more. Mike showed up 30 minutes later and said his anchor chain was hung up on coral and had ripped his bow roller off in the swell and asked Alex if he knew any divers and Alex said yes, I know a diver, ME. So we all helped them get their anchor up and they left tonight. I hope we can get ours up with out to much trouble and we will spend a few days on the east side. Mike and Mary said its a very nice anchorage and lots of snorkeling to do and it is much more calm. So we are here all by our selves now.
I will let you know how it goes tomorrow and I will let you know who we meet.


PEACE