May 4 - The End: Moorea, InterContinental Resort, the "Lap 'O Luxury"

May 4, DEPARTURE DAY

Our beach bungalow on the lagoon with snorkeling & A/C

LAP-O-LUXURY The InterContinental Beach Resort was just what the doctor ordered! A beautiful beachfront bungalow that was steps away from a sandy beach on a quiet snorkeling lagoon which connected to the sea. A king sized bed-that didn't rock---, air conditioning and clean sheets...it was wonderful!! We even watched few minutes of CNN, our first TV since Panama, and learned the Dow hit 15,000. The laid back elegance of the resort was just perfect for our three night stay. We slept 10 hours the first two nights it was SOOO relaxing. And it was wonderful sleeping together again (am I getting too personal here?) without feeling sticky and sweaty, made worse on the boat from feeling the body heat radiating from your partner in a too-small berth. 

Moorea

MOOREA is a modest sized spectacular volcanic island with extremely jagged high peaks which had clouds around them. Our chatty elderly female taxi driver told us that the mountain scenes in the Bali High film were shot here, and Jan couldn't stop singing the theme song after that. There are about 2,000 inhabitants spread out over the east and north shores, and a couple of non-descript villages but no real population centers. Very friendly and very laid back. And very scenic. On Saturday we rented a car from the resort, toured around the island, then dropped it off at the ferry dock for our ride back to Papeete and dinner. 

TATOO!  Jan had been talking the entire trip about getting a tattoo when we finished our trip, but always in uncertain, questioning terms.  With much encouragement she finally decided it was the thing to do to commemorate this amazing voyage.  We asked around and learned that the husband of one of the concierges at the resort had a fine reputation for doing wonderful, safe and painless tattoos.  We borrowed bikes and rode the 4k to his "house" by the road and discussed the process and location and design with him, and made an appointment to return the next day for the deed.  Jan awoke the next morning with stage fright but was convinced that it had to be done, "Now or never".  So we rode the bikes again to Roberto's house and she sat for a half hour while a lovely flower design was tattooed on her right shoulder.  When asked what it stands for, we're told it represents love, family and "your story", which in Jan's case is the 5,000 mile voyage across the Pacific.

HEADING HOME We caught the 12:30am flight out of Papeete to Hawaii this morning (Sunday), then switched planes to LAX, and I'm writing this final blog on the flight to Denver where Megan will pick us up at 9:30pm and house us for a few nights so we can adjust to the altitude and celebrate Jan's (and Andy's) birthday on Tuesday. It will be so fun to reconnect with our families and especially our grandsons. And we're also looking to catch up with you long suffering blog readers, our good friends. 

THE END And so, the Great Adventure comes to an end. We have so many memories and so many pictures! As I've already stated, the magnitude of what we've just accomplished is overwhelming for us and we're so grateful to have had the opportunity. Sailing 5,000 miles over the open ocean has been mind-boggling and visiting all those exotic locations has been such a learning experience. But enough of tropical paradise for us for a while. We're looking forward to the cool, dry Colorado climate!!!

Thank all of you for following us. We've felt you keeping us company and loved having you along. We'll work on getting our pics online soon so you can see more of the beautiful places we've been. 

April 29 - Last Days Aboard Quester

Blog 5/1/13

LEAVING QUESTER AND TAHITI

Calm after the overnight storm - Jan & Joe on foredeck

LAST DAY AT SEA To reach the dock in Papeete aboard Quester involved an interesting last overnight sail with building thunderstorms and winds Sunday night. We only needed to average about 2kts so we would arrive at the entrance to the Papeete channel after dawn. But the winds built overnight, first to 12, then 16, then 20kts and at dawn just off the northern shore of Tahiti up to 30kts. During my last watch from 2200 to 2400 and Jan's from 2400 till 0200 we kept shortening sail until we just had a quarter of the mainsail out with the jib furled to maintain a 2kt average speed. By Joe's watch from 0400 to 0600 he had practically no sail out and Mike and Joe were wondering if we would have to stand off until the wind dropped a bit because it was so rough.

But then the wind died in the lee of Tahiti for the final approach to the channel and we motored in peacefully at 7am, past the large city of Papeete with its hotels, commercial areas, and TRAFFIC, to the large 400 yacht marina. It seemed most of the boats were sailboats and no doubt most of them sailed across the Pacific just like we did. So our sense of grand accomplishment was toned down a notch realizing that all these boats and crew had stories to tell and had lived through similar experiences to ours. Ho hum!?!

Oyster party with music & dances

 LEAVING QUESTER FOR MOOREA After topping off the diesel at the fuel dock we took a berth, complete with electricity and free fresh water. We had Monday and Tuesday scheduled to thoroughly scrub down and reorganize Quester before Jan and I left her for a short ferry ride 12mi over to the beautiful island of Moorea and our 3-night reservation at the InterContinental Resort on the NW tip of that island. Our cleanup of the boat was made bearable by the air conditioning which the captain allowed to be switched on with the shore power, and the Oyster party with the Blessing of the Skippers and native dances on Tuesday night. 

It was quite a chore collecting all our stuff from three months and packing it into our two large duffels plus the medium-sized sail bag which carries our wetsuits (borrowed from Jim and Freddy), self-inflating safety harnesses and snorkeling gear. In addition we have three smaller carry-on bags. A lot of kit!!

Our luggage on aft deck ready for departure

April 29 - Some thoughts as we wind down

Sunday PM, April 28, Almost to Papeete, Tahiti

READY FOR LAND, HOME, FRIENDS AND FAMILY, AND COOL, DRY AIR
Jan and I are probably not going to sail a long ocean passage again in our lifetime.  This trip, combined with the other sailing adventures we've had, are probably sufficient voyaging experience for us.  That being said I am so thankful to have had this experience.  It's been a stretch, for sure.  A real "adventure of a lifetime".  Now we both are SO ready for the total luxury of our three days at our oceanfront bungalow at the InterContinental Resort in Moorea (with the generous gift from our children), followed by our day-long long trip home to Colorado on May 5.  We are so excited with the successful completion of our cruise, and the anticipation of getting home, that the thoughts bring tears to our eyes.  It has been an overwhelming experience!!!

And we're ready for it to end.

Oyster Celebration Party - Papeete

MY PERFECT CREWMATE
I feel truly blessed to have shared this adventure with my wife. It is a rare female companion who enjoys sailing and an even rarer one who will risk three months at sea under these conditions, especially with me. I have treasured our time together and admired her stamina and ability to cheerfully chat or play scrabble with others even though being home would be more comfortable. I knew that it was a good omen that we met on a chair lift skiing at Winter Park 42 years ago - that she loved a good outdoor adventure!  And this surely has been one to remember.  Just the act of passing watches with a squeeze of her hand in the middle of the night has been reassuring to me. And counting down the days before our stay in luxury in Moorea together has gotten us through many rolly, hot, sweaty, uncomfortable sleepless nights.

Both of us treasure all of you who have read this and followed our adventure!  We are so blessed to have so many wonderful family members and friends.  We can't wait to see all of you and share some stories.

We have tomorrow and Tuesday for a thorough scrub down of Quester at the dock (dare I wish for the AC to be turned on?) and to remove all our gear and luggage on Wednesday for the 16mi ferry ride over to the beautiful island of Moorea.  There's an Oyster party Tuesday night we're looking forward to as well.

April 28 - Final passage: to Tahiti

Blog 4.28 Sailing to Tahiti
SITUATION REPORT:
Latitude 16.5,  Longitude 149.0 W;  70 mi to Papeete, Tahiti
Wind ENE 6-9 kts, spinnaker & mainsail dead downwind (again)
Lumpy seas, partly cloudy skies, probably about 87 degrees F.

ASSTERLY WINDS
It's downwind in light winds again.  Our sailing buddy Jim Powell gave us the term "noserlies" for when the wind is always coming from the direction in which you want to sail but can't go upwind.  We are coining the term "assterlies" for the weeks and weeks we've been sailing almost dead downwind.  A sailboat prefers to have some wind angle from either side of the boat so, once again, we aren't sailing exactly in the direction we want to go straight downwind, but 15-20 degrees to starboard or port toward the wind, requiring us to tack downwind.

Dawn, April 29, Papeete, Tahiti

We did some calculations this morning, and guess that for the 45+ days we've been at sea the winds have been ideal for sailing only about 8 days.  This has been a very light wind passage, and more directly downwind than we would have liked.  So it's been lots of work to tweak the sails to keep them flying and get the most boat speed possible.  Not the Trade Wind milk run we envisioned where we were told we'd set the sails on a port tack broad reach in 18kts of wind and not touch them until Tahiti.

Waves in the Pacific Ocean come from everywhere and generally from about three directions at once.  High winds or a storm a thousand miles away can send waves that we feel on Quester.  If you have good winds the boat is steady through the waves with a motion you get used to.  But when the winds are light and especially when they're assterlies, there is little steadying effect from the sails and the boat wallows around in the lumpy seas.  Fortunately neither Jan nor I, nor Joe, Deb or Mike, are prone to seasickness!!!!  But the rocky rolly boat does make life a challenge.  Especially sleeping.

LAST DAY AT SEA
It's so hard to believe that tomorrow morning we'll be pulling into the harbor in Papeete, Tahiti.  At long last, our destination after close to 5,000 miles of sailing.

April 26-- Rangiroa, Tuamotus

Blog 4.26 - Rangiroa, Tuamotus
Quester is in the NW corner of the "Dangerous Archipelago", the Tuamotus on the atoll of Rangiroa.  There are daily flights here from Tahiti and it is a famous SCUBA destination and the nearby dive shop has been very busy.  This has been a long and relaxing final stop on our way to Tahiti from whence we fly home on May 5.

As I've said before, these coral atoll islands are very unusual.  They are formed from the coral rings that originally build up and surround now long-submerged or eroded volcanoes.  The coral originally grows in the sea below the low-tide level and down to a depth of about 30'.  But as the volcano disappears the reefs rise up a bit and form dry land where vegetation takes root over thousands of years.  The highest land here is about 5' above high-tide.  The rings, or atolls, are very narrow but can be miles across.  Rangiroa is 45 miles long and about 25 wide.  In the middle of the atoll is fairly shallow water - averaging 15 - 40 deep.  The coral land is broken up into islands separated by cuts where the sea flows in and out.  A few of these cuts are deep enough to be navigable by sailboats and we're close to one of those at this anchorage.

One of the cool dives, which can be done either snorkeling or with SCUBA gear, is to take a motor boat out to the sea-side of the cut after low tide when the water starts rushing (up to 7 kts here) into the lagoon.  You jump into the river of water and just hang limply, riding the current as the scenery goes by.  You see lots of coral and many kinds of fish including sharks, rays, needlefish, barracuda and brightly colored coral fish.  About half an hour later you are in still water hovering over coral beds.  The boat picks you up and takes you back out the cut where you repeat the process all over but on the other side of the cut.  A very fun experience and one that a snorkeling beginner can do.

April 19 - Tuamotus! Pearls and snorkling

Blog 4.19 Fri  Ahe, Tuamotus
STATUS REPORT:
Lat 14.5 deg South, lon 146.3 deg  West
493 mi SW of Nuku Hiva, taking 4 days instead of 3 to get here.
3,600 mi from Galapagos, 4,600 mi from Panama
79 mi to Rangaroa, Tuamotus; 300 mi to Tahiti

Arrived Ahe at 11:15 this morning after a slower than planned passage.  We did have two beautiful days of spinnaker but the rest was light winds on our tail.  We were headed almost exactly SW, and the winds were often NE.  That might seem good, having the winds behind you, but sailing directly downwind is actually difficult.  The wind you rely on to cool you drops because the boat is going almost as fast as the wind.  For that reason, the wind pressure on the sails also drops which makes for rocky-rolly in the waves.  The wind dropped below 7kt for at least half of the trip, requiring much fussing with the sails when we tried to sail, or motoring (for two days) with no sails.  Oh, that brings up another unpleasant thing about downwind -- if you run your engine the exhaust flows right into the cabin.  So the passage seemed longer that it actually was because of the conditions.  No rain,  just hot sun and little wind.

AHE, HEAT AND PEARLS
We're just inside our first landfall in the Tuamotus on an atoll called Ahe.  It is about 9mi wide and 13mi long, smooth as glass inside the cut, with a ring of low-lying coral islands which are not more than about 3' high and most with palm trees which is what allows you to see the atoll from sea.  We didn't see anything until we were 12mi from land!  Quite a contrast to the volcanic 3,000' peaks of the Marquesas.  Ahe has about 400 residents and has developed quite a business in black pearl cultivation in the last 20 years.  There is a very small village and Lonely Planet says there are two outstanding pensions.  We see neither hide nor hair of either pension.

Hotter than blazes anchored with very little wind to cool us off.  So we swim from time to time to cool off, but together, as the locals tell us that there are sharks that bite!  Joe has a spear gun aboard that he takes snorkeling with us so we swim with Joe! Hope he never has to use it......

April 16 - Tahuata & Ua Pou, Marquesas

Blog 4.16 Tue
STATUS REPORT:
Lat. 10.8 deg. South; 141.8 deg. West
140 Mi SW of Futu Hiva, 300 mi to Takaroa, Tuamotu Is.
[amended at 13:40 to 332 mi to Ahi, bypassing Takaroa - too sketchy]

Sailing on mainsail and spinnaker, broad reach in 15kt winds, doing 8kt SOG.
Beautiful crystal clear day with few clouds and hot sun.  Steady 13-16 kt winds from ENE since dawn.  Light 5kt winds overnight in lumpy seas with lots of rolling.  Expect to make our first landfall in the Tuamotus at the atoll of Ahe then on to Rangiroa 70 mi to the west.

TAHUATA.  I cannot believe it's been over a week since I sat down to write, but we had a busy (and wifi-less) few days after Fatu Hiva.  Last Tue. we sailed to Tahuata where we found another small village, but this one had a little grocery that took our VISA card, so we bought $100 worth of groceries and snacks, including ice cream pops!

April 8 - Yes, Land Ho (PHOTOS!!)

Blog 4.8 Mon
STATUS REPORT:
Fatu Hiva, Marquesas; Latitude: 10.5deg south, 138.7 deg west (S of Alaska)
At anchor in Bay of Virgins.  3,000 miles from Galapagos, 4,000 mi from Panama Canal start, 0 mi to Fatu Hiva, Marquesas.
Partly cloudy with occasional rain squalls.

Last night was our first night at anchor in 20 days, and it was cool and quiet and we slept for nine hours straight.  Such a luxury!!

Making landfall around the northern tip of this volcanic island was spectacular and pulling in to the harbor was as breathtaking as we had been led to believe.  Jan and I have had a double page spread photo from a sailing magazine of this anchorage in our kitchen at home for several months to get us excited about this sail.  We didn't know exactly what island the picture was of, but recognized it immediately as we rounded into the Bay of Virgins.  It was so stunning and the trip here so long that the sense of delight and relief at reaching this destination brought tears to my eyes!

Land Ho?

Bay of Virgins, Fatu Hiva, French Polynesia (h/t: dieger)

Although we haven't gotten any specific confirmation, by all accounts Quester has arrived in this location:  the Bay of Virgins on the island of Fatu Hiva (don't pronounce the 'H').  It's in the Southern Marquesas Islands.  Or perhaps in heaven-- it's tough to tell from the photo.

During the passage, we got a few emails off and on, all very upbeat and excited about progress and the beautiful sailing.  They're not expected to have any internet available for several more days.

April 6 - We paid our dues for this

Blog 4.6 Sat

STATUS REPORT:

Latitude: 10.3 deg south, 137.1 deg west (S of Alaska)

COG 268 deg; SOG 6.3 kts, mainsail & spinnaker. 2,900 miles from Galapagos, 3,900 mi from Panama Canal start, 100 mi to Fatu Hiva, Marquesas.

Beautiful, crystal clear day with a few puffy clouds, sailing as close to downwind as we can on the 10-12 kt winds from the east. This is what is described as the milk run -- downwind in very smooth seas going fast with the chute which we put up at 0700 and haven't touched since. All we've had to do is watch the wind direction and push the + or - button on the autopilot from time to time. Fantastic.

But we paid our dues for this day.

April 4 - Brownies for birthday

Blog 4.4 Thr (Steve's B'day)

STATUS REPORT:

Latitude: 10.6 deg south, 132.3 deg west (S of Alaska)

COG 271 deg; SOG 7.6 kts 2,677 miles from Galapagos, 3,677 mi from Panama Canal start, 323mi to Fatu Hiva, Marquesas.

A rather pleasant, cloudy day with some bits of rain to wash off the salt water. Decent winds and sailing conditions.

BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION

I felt very special today as the ship's crew brought forth a lovely lunch followed by fresh baked (in the oven, in 90 degree weather) BROWNIES with frosting! Joe prepared a fabulous dinner, and we had brownies again for dessert! Even got a stirring rendition of "Happy Birthday to You" sung by the crew. Very nice day.

I am positive someone arbitrarily added 10 years to my age without my permission! I absolutely DO NOT feel 68 years old and I'm hoping this sailing trip proves that I'm not really that old.

That's scarily close to 70!! So, I've decided to compromise with whoever sets your age and say that I'm 58 today.

April 2 - Ideal conditions, getting close

Blog 4.2 Tue.

STATUS REPORT:

Latitude: 9.3 deg S, 127.3 deg W (S. Vancouver Is)

2,300 miles from Galapagos, 3,289 mi from Panama Canal start, 659 mi to Fatu Hiva, Marquesas.

Sunny, warm, beautiful, 16-18 kt. winds from SSE, sailing a broad reach under full mainsail and full jib through 8 - 10' waves from SE. Less hot & sultry.

Only sail change in 48 hours has been to take down the pole holding out the jib as it's not needed with our better wind angle. Still too much wind for our big spinnaker so no 'chute'.

THIS IS WHAT WE CAME FOR

We have had beautiful trade wind conditions for the past three days and hardly have changed the sails! The only negative has been a .3-.4kt current against us which has changed in the last two hours and is now pushing us. Clear skies with bright stars at night and a few small cumulus clouds here and there. Our first night at sea Jan wondered where the Southern Cross was that everybody sings about. She couldn't make it out until i told her it is the shape of a Kappa Alpha Theta kite. She spotted it right away. No rain for days. And now we have under four days to go to reach Fatu Hiva, so the end of this long stretch at sea is in sight.

We are all feeling pretty adjusted to 24 hour sailing while the boat rocks and rolls. Sleeping has gotten easier because our bodies are used to the motion, and we're still probably sleep deprived.

March 31 - Much improved, as advertised

Blog 3.31 Easter Sunday

STATUS REPORT:

Latitude: 8.7 deg S, 121.5 deg W (S. of Los Angeles)

2,000 miles from Galapagos, 3,000 mi from Panama Canal start, 1,000 mi to Fatu Hiva, Marquesas.

Sunny, warm, beautiful, 16-18 kt. winds from SSE, sailing under full mainsail and poled-out full jib through 8 - 10' waves from the SE.

AS ADVERTISED

In my last post I said our sailing experience was not as advertised for this classic cruise from the Galapagos to Tahiti. How things have improved!!!

We set the full jib (jenny) out to leeward on the spinnaker pole yesterday afternoon and have not changed the sails in 24 hours. We're sailing downwind with a good angle to keep the sails filled with the fresh wind. We would love to fly the spinnaker but there's TOO MUCH WIND!

March 27 - "Ideal Trade Wind" cruise?

Blog 3.27 Wed.

STATUS REPORT

Latitude: 6.9 deg south; Longitude 109.5 deg West (south of SLC)

8 days at sea

1,203 mi from Galapagos; 2,084 mi from Panama Canal start; 1,745 mi to Fatu Hiva (new arrival destination in Marquesas)

Cloudy, squally, 20-25kt winds, 8.6 - 9kn speed, rocking & rolling in 8' seas.

"Ideal Sailing Passage to Paradise in French Polynesia"

Not exactly...

When we were offered the opportunity to participate in one of the "best ocean passages in the world" in the soft SE trade winds from the Galapagos to Tahiti, we couldn't say no. 15-18 kt southeasterly winds heading west toward paradise on gently rolling seas. Ahhh, what an opportunity! We were not necessarily sold a bill of goods, because we did our homework and that is the description of the typical sailing passage along this classic cruising route.

But things are different than advertised. Jan just finished reading a friend's book, in which he states "weathermen are both liars and scoundrels".

March 22 - Doldrums

Blog 3.22 Fri
STATUS REPORT:
3.7 deg. south; 95.8 deg. west, 72 hours at sea
372 mi. from Galapagos; 2,645 mi. from Nuku Hiva, Marquesas



We have been slowly learning, ever so slowly, why the doldrums have had such a hated reputation by sailors for almost a thousand years. The winds can be non-existent or so light you can't sail, the humidity is stifling, the rains can be long and heavy and progress is soooo slow. Last night we sailed between some big lightening storms but didn't get much rain. Seas were very lumpy and uncomfortable again. [Update at 1800: we have now been sailing in 10-12kt SSE winds all afternoon, the atmosphere has cleared considerably, the seas are smooth and we're hoping this is the trade winds and we'll sail in these conditions to the Marquesas. Our moods are lifted considerably. Yippee!!!!]

We have used our engine through the worst of it, for about 20 hours of the past 72. But our objective is to sail - not motor.

Cruising tour of the Galapagos. TONS of photos!

Onboard Anahi

Blog 3.17 Sun

ABOARD "ANAHI" Day 1

After these weeks aboard Quester in the humidity and heat we were looking forward to our 4-night, 5-day cruise aboard our Galapagos tour boat Anahi. The website information looked great and we had read some positive reviews but we we anxious to see for ourselves. A cab whisked us the 20 miles or so through the highlands of Santa Cruz north to the ferry which takes you across a small channel separating SC from Baltra where the airport is. Baltra was a WW2 Army/Navy base built to defend the Canal from the Japanese. There is evidence of many foundations left behind. The Current airport was a madhouse because it is small and there are so many tourists coming and going. But right next door is a new modern and much larger airport that is in the process of being opened.

We met Anahi's (pronounced Anna-Hee') representative in the arrivals area and joined our new friends who are from Belgum, Germany and Russia. We are the only Americans. 15 guests in all boarded a small bus and were taken a mile to the harbor where Anahi awaited. Everyone speaks good english except the Russians who speak a little bit. We boarded the two pangas (dinghies) from Anahi. Each carries eight passengers in comfort. Our luggage was transported separately by the crew.

Once aboard we all gathered in the lounge of the surprisingly spacious main deck and met Roberto, our official Equadorian guide for the trip. He used to teach science in Quito but says he was ready to take a breather from the crazy kids when he was offered a guide position. After months of formal training on the Galapagos he was qualified to become a professional guide. Every visitor to the Galapagos National Park who wishes to visit the remote areas needs to do so with a licensed guide. He speaks excellent English and has a great sense of humor and an impressive knowledge about the geology, flora and fauna of these islands.

Our names were called as we were assigned and escorted to our cabins.

March 14-- Darwin Center

Baby turtles (more photos below the fold)

DARWIN CENTER
One of the main attractions in Puerto Ayora is the Darwin Visitor's Center with its turtle and iguana preserves, and a major research station with scientists from around the world who come to study the ecology of the Galapagos. It is a short walk east of downtown which Jan and I took yesterday. The center is just inland from the beach and at mid-day it was extremely HOT on this day when clouds stayed in the highlands.

Much of what we saw was quite repetitive of what we saw earlier in San Cristobol, and actually not as well presented so we didn't linger too long. They did have more young turtles being raised until they are old enough to place in the wild and fend for themselves and they were very cute to watch in their pens. There are two species of large iguanas which are found only in the Galapagos and those are being protected as well. We learned again that the naturally occurring species found here before man arrived were thriving, including hundreds of thousands of giant turtles. But early sailors valued the turtles as food because they could be kept alive in the ship for months before being killed for dinner. And the introduction of cats, dogs, rats, pigs and goats played a major role in the decline of the natural species. So it is wonderful to see the efforts to protect the islands and rid them of human-introduced species.

DIESEL TOPPED OFF
Our trip from Panama to the Galapagos required enough motoring that we burnt 80+ gallons of diesel. With more of the doldrums ahead of us before we reach the SE trade winds on our way to the Marquesas we want to be sure our fuel tank is full upon departure.

Lava Tubes! Tons of pictures.

Looks like a scene from "Lost"

INTERIOR HIGHLANDS

Yesterday we went ashore with our passports and Galapagos park passes ($100 ea) to investigate how to get into the interior highlands to see one of several locations which have land turtle reserves and lava tubes to explore.

After lunch we climbed into a taxi and the driver, who spoke no English, acted as our guide. One needs a local guide to visit any of the Galapagos National Park locations. This is not only beneficial for informational purposes but it also ensures that visitors treat the parks with respect and it provides much employment opportunity to the local population.

Very quickly after leaving Puerto Ayora we were in the lush green countryside with many open areas with widely separated cedar trees.

March 11-- Market Day

Helping himself to a tuna steak

Puerto Ayora, Galapagos

First, let me apologize for mis-spelling the name of this lovely town and port. It is Ayora (aye-ora), not Aroya. So now that we know where we are I'll let you know what (little) we've been doing.

After a very uncomfortable rocky rolly Friday night at anchor things finally settled down a bit Saturday when the wind switched to the SW and faced us into the waves instead of sideways to them. We had invited a young couple who is leaving the rally to come and dine with Joe and us. We had to hold our drinks all night because they would have tipped over from the rolling. But Jan fixed a wonderful dinner with tenderloin and we had a great time before taking Advil PM and trying to sleep.

THE OTHER HALF
Saturday morning is the weekly farmer's market and we were advised to get there early for best selection. On the water taxi trip ashore we met the gal from the largest Oyster, 92' "Lush", who was headed to the market to provision for the 10 people aboard for their 3,000mi sail to the Marquesas. She is one of the paid crew - the "hostess" - a person wearing many hats including cleaning, daily yoga instruction, entertainment and provisioning for the professional cook.

The owner of Lush is a famous Scottish Formula 1 race car driver whose name I forget but our good friend and race car driver Bob Bruce wants us to meet. He flies in to ports to enjoy his boat between races and expects everything to be first-rate while he's aboard.

March 8

CONDITIONS: Continued cooler, big rainstorm overnight, winds E 15-16kts today. Clear skies. Harbor is open to SE-S and is a bit rolly, especially when the wind blows the boat perpendicular to the prevailing SE swells. Putting out a stern anchor to hold us pointed into the waves would cause a problem at night when the wind swings 180 degrees, so we just roll.

MECHANICALS: None!

More info and photos below the fold:

March 7

CONDITIONS: Continued cooler, humid, light winds overnight. Good winds today (wouldn't you know, because we're at anchor).

PROPULSION: None.

MECHANICALS: Replaced two spokes on Mike's bicycle which he loves to ride around the islands we visit.

CREW CONDITION: Enjoying the freedom of going ashore & socializing with the other Oysters arriving every day.

EXCITEMENT: Lizards (with bodies about 1' long, plus tails), seals swimming in the Oyster HQ hotel swimming pool, tons of birds, and an active fishing harbor.

COMMENTS: We are very impressed with Porto Aroya. Like the other places we've visited, there is lots of evidence of recent economic development including the infusion of lots of government money to improve these tourist destinations. This is really the tourist center for the Galapagos with about 30-40 tour boats in the harbor and a very active and cute Main Street along the harbor. Jan and I look forward to the coming week alone on the boat with time to spend ashore in the town and exploring the island.

We'll keep you updated. Right now it's 5:30 and it's happy hour at the Oyster HQ hotel, so we're off!  Lots of pictures below:

March 6, First day in Galapagos

DISTANCE TO GALAPAGOS: 0NM , 45NM made good noon to noon.

CONDITIONS: Continued cooler, but high humidity. Mostly clear skies with clouds over the volcanic peaks. Zero winds while motoring to Santa Cruz Is.

PROPULSION: Motoring, at anchor here for two weeks.

MECHANICALS: Cleaned drain hose and anti-siphon valve from our head which had been emitting occasional odor.

CREW CONDITION: Excellent.

EXCITEMENT: Getting to shore to explore, enjoy some internet to contact friends and family, eat some food and take a San Cristobol Island tour.

COMMENTS: The minute we anchored, we were greeted by sea lions!

Southern Hemisphere!

Quester crossed the equator today, somewhere around 1100 UTC, about 6am eastern!

Crosby Stills and Nash, foreseeing this trip, wrote a little ditty for the occasion.  Perhaps you've heard it?

March 3-- entered southern hemisphere and arrived Galapagos

DISTANCE TO GALAPAGOS: 0 NM , 129NM made good noon to noon

CONDITIONS: Continued cooler air, winds overnight on the nose 9-12, tacking in very confused seas with new swells from the west mixing with wind and waves against current of 1.5 kts. Partly cloudy

PROPULSION: Tacking upwind last night. Motoring straight upwind today. Much calmer seas this afternoon.

MECHANICALS: After running engine many hours the alternator quits charging the batteries for unknown reasons. Solution is to shut down the engine and restart it. Examined considerable sun damage on exposed portion of Quantum staysail and decided it should be repaired in Tahiti.

CREW CONDITION: Bleary after being bounced around all night in the washing machine conditions. Getting naps and showers today. Cheerful to be in the Galapagos

EXCITEMENT: WE CROSSED THE EQUATOR at 0610 this morning but because of the conditions and the hour we decided to celebrate tonight at anchor. LAND HO! We spotted the high peaks of our landfall around noon today and have been motoring up the north side of the island to our anchorage on the western tip. We've eaten very well, have lots of food and snacks and the watermaker allows us the luxury of daily showers. So life is good!

COMMENTS: Under ideal conditions we could do this 900 mi trip in six days at 150 mi per day. It took us seven and a half days because of the combination of calms or light winds and winds on the nose when we had good winds. This was frustrating and required sail changes, tacking and setting course for 100 degrees away from San Cristobol so our VMG (velocity made good toward the target) was always lower than our speed through the water. However, it was fantastic to have following currents the entire way until today which probably gave us 36 FREE miles per day!

We'll await Immigrations and Customs approval, and boat inspection for illegal food, pets or plants before we can go ashore

March 2nd

DISTANCE TO GALAPAGOS: 150NM , 127NM made good noon to noon

CONDITIONS: Continued cooler (85 instead of 90+), dryer air, winds overnight died at 0600. Clear skies.

PROPULSION: Tacking upwind last night. We've been in "noserlies" for most of this passage and thus progress is slow because we can only point 50 degrees from our destination - no closer - because the sails begin acting like flags with no forward pull. Motoring today.

MECHANICALS: Changed watermaker backflush filter. When the generator is used, typically 3 hours per day, we can use the reverse osmosis watermaker to make pure water from sea water. This allows us to use much more water than we were used to on Mystique. We shower every day which is a real luxury!

CREW CONDITION: Joe spending time alone coming to grips with losing his beloved golden retriever, Rain. Rest of us doing great.

EXCITEMENT: Mike is shaving today! We stopped the boat in the dead calm sea and went for a swim. Top 1' of water like a bath tub. 1' down was at least 10 degrees cooler (Humbold current waters?). We have a red-footed booby...

March 1st

DISTANCE TO GALAPAGOS: 277NM , 109NM made good noon to noon

CONDITIONS: Cooler, dryer air, steady SW winds 10-15kts. PC skies.

PROPULSION: Sailing only now for two days - no engine!! Tacking upwind.

MECHANICALS: Tried to fix the toaster which hit the floor during our wild & rainy night. Cleaned raw water intake strainers.

CREW CONDITION: Everyone doing well except we are all very sad that Joe's dog was suffering from cancer and had to be put down today.

EXCITEMENT: Steady winds, smooth sailing, very comfortable.

COMMENTS: It has been such a blessing to have two days of steady 10-15kt winds which move Quester along at a respectable 5-6kt pace. Even though we're tacking 100 degrees away from our first destination, San Cristobol, we're making 5-6 kts VMG in that direction with the help of the considerable current from behind the boat. Spirits up except for above mentioned sadness.

Feb 27th, 28th

Glassy

Feb 27:  

We are definitely in the Doldrums. Light, shifty winds and increasingly oppressive heat and humidity. We are averaging about 110 miles a day with our motoring time included - about six hours a day.

Last night we went through some heavy rains and this morning dawned clearer and dryer, so we thought we were out of the Doldrums. We had some great sailing today. In the afternoon, the sky turned dark to our northeast through southwest-- straight ahead-- and there are large cumulus formations that are producing some lightning. 

Feb 28:

The storms converged on us last night and it rained very heavily again from 6pm till 6am. The night watches huddled under the dodger to stay somewhat dry but everywhere outside was drenched. Torrential downpours, but we were able to avoid the lightening all night with the help of the radar. The wind picked up a lot and was running opposite the 1.5kt current, creating very uncomfortable choppy waves.

BUT, the good thing was that the rain brought with it some good steady winds ranging 12-18kts which are continuing today. The bad news is that the "noserlies" (winds coming from our the direction of our destination) which loved us so much of the time aboard Mystique have found us here approaching the Galapagos!! So we began the slow process of tacking upwind on major wind shifts, requiring 110+ degrees through the tack. This is typical for a cruising boat but not the more efficient 90 degrees or less we were used to racing our C-15 for 30 years.

It's not all beer and skittles in the South Pacific

Here's a quick update from my desk in Cleveland:

Quester left Panama City early on Sunday morning, headed SSW and then SW toward the mouth of Panama Bay and the open ocean beyond. Currently in about 6N, 80W headed SSW at 0-4kt.

They've run in to some unhelpful winds...

Feb 26th-- Several Excitements!

DISTANCE TO GALAPAGOS: 577NM , 105NM made good noon to noon

CONDITIONS: Continued warm, humid and 0 to 3kt winds

PROPULSION: Mostly sailing <3kts and drifting, 6hrs motoring

MECHANICALS: None

CREW CONDITION: Everyone doing well

EXCITEMENT: Passing between two big squalls w/ cumulus clouds but not getting any wind from them. More dolphins. Big tree stump sticking out of water with birds on it. No fish.

COMMENTS: We've been trying to conserve fuel by motoring only when there's little to no wind. We can re-fuel in the Galapagos, so Mike calculated that we could motor for 12 hours / day for six days and still have 40 gallons of fuel left in reserve. That is a relief.

1400: I've decided to add to the Excitement listing above. One of the storms drifted over us and it turned out to be part of a weather front that gave us 10 KT WINDS!! and lots and lots of rain. We are still sailing two hours later on WNW winds on a very clean boat. Fantastic!

1500: More Excitement! Joe's fishing gear finally attracted some attention...

Feb 25th-- Light

1500 I'm again on watch. It is warm (not as hot) and sweltery. Again the wind blew overnight and this time we got up to 9kt with a steady 7 for much of the night. We covered 134 miles our first day at sea which is respectable considering the calms. Again, we put up the spinnaker at dawn and flew it until noon when the wind dropped below 4kt. So we're motoring again this afternoon and the water is glassy smooth except for the remnant swells.

Today's Improvements:
--Fixed the spark ignighters on two of the stove burners.
--Placed a big white awning (you can see it in our pics from Shelter Bay) over the dodger and bimini to shade the dark blue Sunbrella material from the sun - a MAJOR IMPROVEMENT because it minimizes the amount of radiant heat in the cockpit. I'm typing this there and it's very pleasant!

Today's Conversations:

Feb 24th-- Leaving Panama

Feb 24:
QUICK CHANGE IN PLANS - OUT TO SEA!
1030: At 6:30 this morning we arose to Mike telling us he'd changed his mind about stopping at Isla San Jose for tonight. He'd been able to download the Passage Weather forecast last night (he's often up for an hour or two in the middle of the night) and it showed NO WIND between here and the Galapagos for the next week. Since the wind had been blowing 10-12 all night and looked to continue, he said, "Let's go -- NOW!"

In five minutes we were headed south. In 15 we had the spinnaker up doing 7kts in steady north winds. So we're saying goodbye to Las Perlas drifting out of sight behind us - our last look at land for what we figure will be 7 days (with wind) to 9 days (with spotty winds). We need to take full advantage of any wind we get for 900 miles.

We have established our two-hour shift schedule:

Continuing to the Pacific

This is the continuation of the last post, in which Quester started her journey through the Atlantic locks.

Aboard Quester, off Isla Contadora, Pearl Islands, Panama

LINE HANDLING IN THE LOCKS
Before I continue the narrative, I thought I'd describe some of the mechanics of getting through the locks.

Thick blue lock-line
(with giant and fateful bowline!)

The procedure of lines handling through the locks is very interesting (OK, maybe only to some of the saltier readers. If not, jump to the next section!). Each boat is required to have four 50' one inch thick polypropylene "lock-lines" even though only four are needed for a raft of three boats. This is because not everything always goes as planned and each boat needs to be self-sufficient. If everything goes as planned, for an individual boat or a raft of three boats there are starboard and port lines for the bow and the stern. There is a requirement that the skipper be at the helm all the time, and that there be four line handlers in addition to the skipper. A number of the Oysters didn't have that many crew available for their crossing so they borrowed crew from other boats that were transiting on different days. Our hand, Joe, was one of those, so he had already been through the locks by the time we started - a big advantage as he could describe the whole process to us.

Once the raft entered into the lock the center boat's Advisor could control the direction of his raft by asking his skipper to steer one way or the other. The outside boats kept a "neutral", or straight helm. Or if more steerage was needed he would ask the outside boats to go forward or reverse, or each in opposite directions which could spin the raft on the spot.

On shore there were also four line handlers for each raft. They threw a small 3/8" line, called a messenger, with a ball, or "monkey's fist," at the end of it. There is quite an art to doing this accurately so multiple tries aren't needed. Ashore we saw practice areas with big circle targets and very high bars where the line throwers could practice. I'm sure they have contests with championships! The monkey's fist was small but heavy so you didn't want to get hit by one. The thrower would coil up the end of the line with the monkey's fist and circle it over his head once or twice and then heave. The monkey's fist ball would usually land between the two forestays just above our heads.

We would then tie the messenger line to a 2-foot diameter bowline loop in the long, thick lock line. When the boats were in the correct position in the lock, our lock lines would be pulled ashore (by the messenger) and looped around a large bollard. The line handlers on the boat would then be responsible for pulling the lines in as the boats were lifted higher in the lock or easing the lines out as the boats were lowered by the outflowing water.

Occasionally, this doesn't go as planned...

Through the locks

On board Quester, outside Panama City, Panama

The short story is that we're in the Pacific Ocean!  I'll send this off to Andy at 7:30 on Friday, so he can post something before we have to leave for Los Pearles - the Pearl Islands just 45 mi. SE of Panama City, where we've been for the past two nights.  I've got to type fast.  We're leaving at 8.  I'm using a Bluetooth keyboard and our iPad which is working great.

It was quite exciting dropping the lines and heading out under power toward the mustering area "F" where all the Oyster yachts dropped anchors to await the arrival of our Panama Canal Advisor.  About 25 huge ships littered the large bay/harbor formed by the huge man-made breakwater that runs between Shelter Bay and Colon.  There was no problem coming up with the rocks for the breakwater -- they came from all the digging that was forming the Canal.

In the Pacific Ocean

Quester has entered the Pacific Ocean for the first time!  Her home for the next 10,000 nautical miles, the South Pacific is home to the world's greatest adventure stories-- and our intrepid heros-- until crossing in to the Indian Ocean south of Java.

The crew transited the northern (Atlantic) locks on Tuesday afternoon and spent the night in Gatun Lake, part of the Panama Canal.  Yesterday, they transited the Miraflores locks in to the Pacific.  They'll rest and refit in Panama City for a few days.

I expect more information from them about the locks today or tomorrow, so stay tuned.  Below are some pictures of the before and after from one lock section.

To the Atlantic side of the canal

[Editor's Note:  The Yellowbrick Tracker website is working again; link "where are we now?" on the right.]
[Also, added two fantastic images of Oysters in the Gatun Locks at the bottom of the post, from Oyster]

Bridge over Gatun Locks

Here's a several-day update covering our trip to the Atlantic entrance of the canal, and some of our preparations for the canal transit.

You can just read on, and go through the whole thing or skip to your favorite parts!




Feb 14-- To Colon and Shelter Bay
Feb 15-- Shelter Bay Marina
Feb 16-- Elegant Pirate Party
Feb 17-- Provisioning
Feb 18-- What's next?

Panama City

MONDAY 2/11  My head is spinning with all the great things that we've experienced since landing in Panama City 24 hours ago.  After spending a delightful two nights with daughter Meg and family in Denver (including another bon voyage party) we had an smooth flight to Panama.  All of our four duffel bags arrived with us and we experienced an eye-popping :40min taxi ride through Panama City (PC) at night.  We'd heard that Panama has been thriving economically since the new president was elected 10 years ago, but to experience something close to the Miami waterfront down here was surprising.  

After a quick dinner we happened to walk in to the just-opened Royal Sonesta Hotel across the street from our inexpensive (but just refurbished and very nice) mid-town VRBO studio at Panama Studio Apartments.  We were treated like royalty at Sonesta and even escorted to the 27th floor where there is a large dining room overlooking the city.  Upstairs there will be a disco, partially outdoors on the deck.  What a spectacular view.

Tuesday and Wednesday below...

Upcoming Schedule

We're leaving Denver today for flight to Panama City, where we'll kick around for a few days before transiting (by land!) to the Atlantic side of the canal to meet up with Quester and the rest of the Oyster fleet.

All Packed and Loaded

(This is our last update before leaving town! Click here to see what this blog is all about.)

It's finally time! The last few days have been a whirlwind of preparation.  We've had to prepare the house, and ourselves, for this time away and make time for some skiing and farewell parties with friends!

Read on to hear how we prepared for a three-month sailing trip in the Pacific.

Canal Transit Plans from Oyster

Thought you might be interested in this update from Oyster's Logistics team.  It gives one a sense of the organizational detail, and the advantage of going with a well-staged rally vs. on your own.

Did you know that the Pacific side of the Canal is EAST of the Atlantic side?  Check it on Google Maps. 

Example email from the organizers follows...

And so it begins...

Jan and Deb with Quester in Sweden '07

Hello Friends, Family and anyone else who happens by.  We're delighted to have your company on our sail half way across the Pacific Ocean!

Our quest is to sail aboard Quester with our friends Mike and Deb (Boulder, CO) and helping hand Joe (New Jersey) from Panama to Tahiti.  We'll be joining the boat in Colon, Panama Feb 14 after a few days in Panama City being tourists.  After a week or two transiting the Canal and final provisioning in Panama City we'll head SW to the Galapagos Is., a distance of about 1,000 mi. expected to take about a week on the open ocean.

Read on to hear more about our trip!