The islands of Raiatea and Taha’a were probably close to being joined together a long time ago. They share the same barrier reef around the perimeter of both islands and are only a couple hours apart by sailboat. From the air, they look a little like an hour-glass, with the reef tapering in on both sides at the middle. Sailing into Raiatea, there was a “wind event” expected for the island, so we wanted ... Read More
We lifted anchor from Oponohu Bay in Mo’orea and set off for a new destination - Huahine. Our friends Dave and Lynn wanted to actively participate in keeping watch on our passage, so we assigned time slots for the 4 of us. After our 19 hour uneventful passage from Mo’orea, we arrived in the main port of Fare and spent 2 weeks there. We split up our time between 3 anchorages: Fare, Plage Hana-Iti, ... Read More
Our sail from Fatu-Hiva to Fakarava took 6 very slow days. This was a welcome contrast to the previous passage. The winds were 10-17 kn the first day, which made for a much more comfortable sailing day. We were accompanied by about 2 dozen dolphins for a few hours on this leg, which is a big highlight for us. Brent had made some nice dinners the previous days leading up to leaving Fatu-Hiva. He ... Read More
Our passage from Hiva-Oa to Fatu-Hiva was only an 8 hour sail, but oh what a sail it was! We left at 6 AM. Right outside the anchorage the swells were big and the wind was strong. I was optimistic that I wouldn't get seasick because I took something Jimmy swore by, (but I don't honestly know what it was). It was a straight shot, no tacking. We put up all 4 sails and ... Read More
We made the good decision to go to Tahuata for a few days while we were waiting for a new regulator to come in from Tahiti for the engine. The 2-hour afternoon sail from Atuona, Hiva-Oa to Tahuata was pretty short, even though we had little wind to sail and the engine wouldn't go over 5.3 kn. Our targeted bay was one that is known to have dolphins and mantas called Hanamoenoa Bay. We ... Read More
Hakatea Bay has an aura of being a mysterious, historical place, besides looking like the ultimate tropical paradise. After anchoring in the bay, also known as Daniel’s Bay, we walked a short way toward the village. We passed the cemetery high on a hill, with the newest headstones dating back to the early 1900’s. We had to cross a shallow stream before arriving at the town’s “restaurant” and turning right to follow the road that ... Read More
Lengthy air travel is never a fun thing. My flights and layovers to the Marquesas Islands were 26 hours and consisted of 4 flights. Needless to say, I was very happy to arrive on Nuku-Hiva and have the smiling faces of Marnie and Brent waiting for me. They had rented a car for the day to pick me up and we set out on a beautiful tour of the island. The most surprising ... Read More
After 3 weeks on the boat in Catalina, I feel conflicting things. Yes, it still feels like we’re on a wonderful vacation, but I’m honestly a little bored with being at the Isthmus, which is the more remote part of the island. We’ve hiked, snorkeled, dived and moved to 4 different bays. We figured out how to use our small dinghy as a dive boat and also as a sailboat. We’ve tried everything on ... Read More
Big day! Today is the day that Steel Away finally left San Diego for the first time in 29 years! We left the Chula Vista Marina a few minutes after 5 PM and headed to the fuel dock in Harbor Island to top off our tank. We are headed to Catalina for approximately 4 weeks to do a shakedown of the boat. We plan on trying to test absolutely everything we can think of. ... Read More