February 16, 2015
Huahine, French Polynesia
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| In Tahanea, Williams enjoys the moonrise |
HOLIDAY CRUISE
I’ve been silent for so long, you might wonder what happened? Are we still cruising? Yes indeed, now reaching our 27,000 NM. That’s 2,000 NM in the last year, proof that—indeed-- we’ve been moving around French Polynesia; and we’ve been spending a lot of time at Marina Taina.
Do-mini - JP has finally built his dream tender, Do-mini. It took him 4 months of planning and design, and 3 months of building (thanks to our friend Williams who loaned us space and tools and car and support and friendship), followed by 3 weeks of tweaking the details, and now you have it: the perfect tender (blog to follow.)
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| Do-mini is a very stable platform for fishing |
CYCLONE Season in FP – November through April is Cyclone season here, and we must remain vigilant. Indeed, we closely avoided Cyclone NIKO in mid-January, a weak tropical cyclone that skimmed just east of Tahiti but was followed by heavy rains and high surf.
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| NIKO left us with spectacular skies |
During our stay in Marina Taina, Tahiti has been hit with an epidemic of Chikungunya, a Dengue-like fever whose rheumatismal effect may last for months. Over 70,000 cases have been officially reported. Of our little family of 15, fourteen of them (including JP) contracted the disease. Only Yours Truly, slathered in DEET and wearing long sleeves and pants in 90F temperature, and not getting off the boat very much, was spared. Phew!
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| JP & Williams in convalescence mode |
TAHANEA (again!) - To give everyone a break and a healthy convalescence, we took our little family for a Tuamotu Cruise. Williams joined us to our favorite Tahanea for 3 days of great hunting, catching grouper, “Tarefa” and “Carangues,” cleaning fish all day long, freezing it and eating it as never before! Our fishing trip was a great test for Do-mini who loves trolling, stable and roomy.
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| Nothing makes Williams happier than a great fishing day: "Tarefa"& "Carangue" (rainbow jack) |
The trip from Tahanea to Fakarava landed us a 25 lb wahoo that William expertly cleaned, skinned, vacuum-packed and froze, not without a sashimi degustation; our favorite? Just a dash of salt and a few drops of olive oil, marinated 30 minutes, served cold, lime optional. Yum!
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| A Wahoo is always a spectacular catch |
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| Chrismas lunch on board |
HIRIFA (Fakarava SE) 16°27.09S - 145°22.09W - – This was a new anchorage for us, just NE of Tetamanu pass. It is well sheltered from the N,E, & S, but not suitable when westerlies blow. Since the winds were stubbornly coming from the North, we postponed staying at the Tetamanu pass and opted for the good shelter at Hirifa. But beware of the flies: pigs on the motu!!!
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| HIRIFA is a lovely anchorage... except for the flies! |
With more fishing came more eating of the supposedly “Safe” and non-ciguateric lagoon fish: rainbow jacks, marbled groupers and “Bec de Canne.” It was a fish-fest soon to be regretted as we all started to feel a touch of ciguatera poisoning: itchy palms and sole of feet, itchy skin, “bubbly” tip of the tongue, numbness of the throat and, for Caro who was worst hit, extreme fatigue and chills. Ooops… no more lagoon fish for us for at least 90 days, then only small amount and only once or twice a week. We shipped Caro and the kids back by plane, their cooler filled with vacuum-packed frozen fish that, I hope, they will wait a while to eat.
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| As usual, Temana serenades us |
TOAU - On the return trip from Fakarava to Tahiti, Caro’s brother Andre joined us and we made a 3-day stop at yet a new atoll: Toau. This was a very disappointing stop, sad to say. Although the lagoon is well marked and navigation is very easy, the diving and fishing are poor.
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| Land crabs: all we eat are the claws, very yummy! |
15°52.21S - 145°55.77W - Our first anchorage, in front of the old village, was easy enough anchorage in sand. The coral, however is totally dead and there is no sealife. Our night hunt for coconut crab was futile: they are all gone. However, sand crab are plentiful and the boys brought back a very healthy dinner!
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| Another lovely morning in the Tuamotus |
15°56.17S - 145°58.18 W - The second anchorage (south of the Otugi Pass) proved equally disappointing at the shore level. However, just cross the motu and you have access to the reef where cast-fishing is great…. Just make sure you toss the fish back, all ciguateric, but nice size red snappers and rainbow jack: fun to hook up! The diving at the pass is OK, but nothing to compare with Tahanea or Fakarava. We took Do-mini on a little trip south towards the hoa with access to the reef. It’s a good outing, even though the snorkeling is poor.
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| Stormy day on the reef |
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| FEOS are ancient coral formations. The best were in Rangiroa |
Back in Papeete, we released Williams to his family, sad to see our favorite “Petit Mousse” and master fisherman leave us (not without catching 3 large mahi-mahis on the way back!)
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| Welcome, baby Juliette |
It was also time for me to head over to the US, to meet our very new granddaughter Juliette… Oh my! What a joy to hold a newborn and see our children become parents! Baby Juliette is “perfect in every way.”
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| Rebuilding the water pumps: one more project |
Serendipity worked a little magic: I was in Newport Beach just as the Women’s Sailing Convention was being held. Sweeeet! Holly Scott reinforced my understanding of marine diesel engines and Judy Fusco made the multimeter my new best friend. Betsy Crowfoot was on hand, selling the book she co-wrote for Joy “The Ultimate Sailing.” Even the Hellmers paid us a visit since they happened to be in Burbank… what a treat!
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| Entering Cook's Bay is always breathtaking |
And back to Papeete again, we were itchy to leave Marina Taina and cruise again. A quick provisioning trip, a thorough bottom-&-props cleaning, a rebuild of all our water pumps (both engines and the genset) and we were off for a Valentine’s day cruise to Cook’s Bay (Moorea.)
Alas, JP had caught the flu (or something) and our sweet dinner date Chez Roger (the best restaurant in FP) was cut short as we sped back to DOMINO and put JP to bed!
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| "Chez Roger" - Our favorite eatery in all of F.P. Roger also owns "Les 3 Lurons" in Papeete, always full! |
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| Happy Valentine's Day |
dominomarie
