Tag Archives: French Polynesia

Rounding the Southwest corner of Nuku Hiva

This is a posting that Eric sent to the world cruiser’s fabulous resource: www.noonsite.com back in 2016. It was never posted to our site and he thought with the upcoming 2019 Pacific crossing season approaching, our past knowledge might come in handy to the newbie Pacific Puddle jumpers. Some of the details may be a little dated, but things are slow to change in the Marquesas.

Taiohae Bay, Nuku Hiva. We anchored in the little inlet for almost a year: June 2015-May 2016.

June 2015, Leslie, Bryce (13), Trent (11), and I arrived from the Galapagos Islands in the Marquesas aboard Kandu, our 42-foot Tayana sailboat. Intending to stay only a few weeks, we remained nearly a year, becoming certified residence in the administrative capital of Taiohae, Nuku Hiva. Our sons would be the first Americans to attend Taiohae’s middle-school. Having been in Nuku Hiva as long, we thought it helpful to share some recommendations as to what to see and do were one to have 1-5 days to spend and cooperative weather. A detailed guide written by Rose Corsair points out the nearby historical sites and is available at her shop on the west side of the bay. So, here’s a short-list, in order of priority. Of course, spending more time at any one or more of these locations is preferable. Note: Although many services are described, this is meant mostly to serve as a sailing cruiser’s touring guide, getting the most out of Nuku Hiva in the shortest time, and does not provide a comprehensive list of available services.

Taiohae Bay seen from opposite side of the quai.

Standard Polynesian traveling preparations: water, bug spray, sun protection, a good pair of hiking sandals suitable for mud, seawater, and streams, and a roll of toilet paper in a Ziplock.

1^st Day, Taiohae, from east to west

Petit Quai dinghy dock (pronounced “per-TEET KAY”), services listed in order of appearance starting from this popular sailors meeting place:

Snack Vaekai aka Chez Henri (among other languages, Henry speaks English and can help solve most any boat problem the Marquesan way) (meals $8-$10): Internet WiFi with food purchase, mostly Marquesan menu, including the classic Marquesan poisson cru(lime-marinated fresh fish in fresh squeezed coconut milk), fresh squeezed fruit juices or citronade (lime-ade), and individual bananas that you pull from any one of the many stalks hanging along the tent’s edge to accompany your meal. Bananas are consumed here like bread or tortilla chips are in US restaurant. For dessert: gateau beurre(butter cake), ice cream, or firi-firi(French Polynesian donut). No alcohol served (BYOB from Kamake, see below).

Welcoming Quai businesses of Taiohae Bay, Nuku Hiva

Next stores to Henri’s, a boutique selling nice shirts, skirts, caps, and Hinano stickers, and a dive excursion shop, filling tanks and taking you out, but no classes.

Henri, like a brother to me, shows off a plate of his poisson cru, lime-marinated raw yellow fin tuna.

Then it’s Yacht Services Nuku Hiva (YSNH), Kevin can help you check in and/or with the authorities and help solve boat problems (the American way). He sells Marquesan courtesy flags, souvenirs, and houses one of the island’s premiere tattoo artists: Moana. YSNH can also set you up with one of their many island tours. Laundry and WiFi are just some of the services he offers.

Trash and oil dump location.

Open Market: Fresh fruits and vegetable stand, daily 6am-3pm except Sundays. (4 a.m. Saturday if you want tomatoes!!!)

Chez Celina, in the market place at the end of the quay, serves local dishes, ($6-$10), cold beer, and offers Wi-Fi with a purchase. Serves standard Marquesan fare as well as Marquesan dishes with international spiced variations

Quay restrooms are now payable ($1, or free when you eat at Celina’s), but not yet well maintained. We “lobbied” to improve this circumstance, asking that they have toilet seats, doors, toilet paper, soap and drying towels. Would also like to see the showers working too. There’s a place to hand wash clothes behind the building near the toilets. During rains, the water which is non-potable becomes brown with sediment and can stain clothes. Currently no potable tap water in Taiohae, except one of the three free filtered water stations, none of which are close to the quai.

Communal artisan center, more active when a cruise ship passes through. If you see something you like, buy it. It might not be there tomorrow. When larger cruise ships pull into port, Ua Pou arrives to sell inexpensive black pearls.

Tourist office, with maps and information about the Marquesas. Speak English. Can set you up with Nuku Hiva tours: Richard Dean and Jocylene speak English. Average tour cost $65 pp plus lunch. Tourist office has the best public restrooms on Nuku Hiva!!!!

Saturday morning flea market (marche de puce), 5-6:30am, fresh seafood and prepared foods. Tuna, wahoo, etc. $5/kilo. Live lobster, $15/kilo (out of season Feb-April).

General Stores: Taiohae has 5 general stores and 2 hardware stores. Larssons, next to Kamake sells higher-end items like curries, coconut oil, etc. The store furthest away, past the pharmacy, is open 7 days a week. The one behind Socredo, the only bank, across from the stadium field, is open during lunch, Monday-Sat. Cold anything, including soft drinks, beer ($2.50-$3/can), wine, chocolate, meats, cheese, and ice cream. Fresh baked baguette bread ($0.70) and pastries daily except Sundays and holidays. Kamake open 5:30-11:30am Mon-Sat, 2-6:30pm Mon-Fri, Larsson’s opens later. Fresh vegetables and inexpensive casse-croute(sandwiches) sold in front of Kamake until 11:30am. These general stores offer free truck rides to the Petit Quai if you have a heavy or large purchase, but you have to ask.

Kou’eva Ceremonial Grounds, Taiohae, Nuku Hiva

Kou’eva – Inland ceremonial grounds, restored for traditional cultural festivals. To find it, turn right up the town’s center street, main intersection, between Magasin Kamake and Magasin Larsson. Walk about a mile up, not far from the school bus stop, a super small sign on the right side of street marks right turn toward Taiohae’s reconstructed ceremonial grounds. The walk from the paved street inland along the dirt road is further than you think and which road to take at each informal intersection is not obvious . . . so, ask any passersby, or worst case, walk back and take the other path if you guess wrong.

Chez Bigo Hardware: Walking from Kou-eva back to the seafront, as you descend, you may notice Chez Bigo, the island’s most comprehensive hardware store to your right, just before the bus stop, across the small bridge. They serve cold drinks and packaged snacks like candy bars if the Kou’eva walk zapped your energy.

Moana Nui Restaurant, Pension, and Car Rental – on the main drag, further west after the main intersection. More European than Marquesan menu ($12-$30). Great steak. Serves French-style pizza (no mozzarella cheese for pizza in French Polynesia), beer and wine and mixed drinks. More expensive than the two Petit Quai “Snacks” (cafes), less expensive than Pearl Lodge.

Cathedral Taiohae – Ask permission to enter building. Strict protocols. Rose Corsair, on the westside of the bay, sells a guidebook for Nuku Hiva that includes descriptions of elements within the cathedral. Beautiful woodcarvings inside and out. Sunday mass begins with meditative chants at 7am, regular mass at 8am, ends 9-9:30am. Look for the Marquesan version of the Christian cross (previously Marquesan symbol for southern cross, I think). Butted together, the Marquesan cross figures look like a pattern of men.

Tohua Temehea – Seaside ceremonial grounds, built for traditional cultural festivals since 1989. Read the informational sign on-site (in French and English) for details

Melville Monument – Tucked in on the shore side, neighbouring the western cemetery.
A wonderfully carved large tree stump with weathered roof top and missing elements, shows the path he hiked out of Taiohae and over to Taipi Vai. The monument is reported placed at the beach location where Melville reportedly jumped ship and headed for the hills.

Joel’s Bella Pizza: Great pizza, ($12.50-$18; $3 delivery to Petit Quai), a less expensive alternative to Moana Nui Restaurant’s pizza. The “Indian” and “Petit Quai” versions are our favorites. Better than the pizza are the decadent desserts, tiramisu and cheesecake ($4, large slices)

Restaurant and Marquesas Museum at Chez Rose’s. Rose was an American sailing cruiser who arrived in Taiohae in 1972 with her husband Frank and later returned to stay since 1977. Far west side of bay. Never know when it’s open. Knock. Great exhibit. Sells a great Nuku Hiva guidebook in multiple languages. Restaurant serves an excellent hamburger. Free WiFi, password-free (some anchor their boats at this side of the bay to get closer to her wifi). A more casual Friday night happy hour than Pearl Lodge, Kevin sometimes arranges a complimentary communal taxi for sailors from his YSNH shop on the Petit Quay.

Pearl Lodge – Nuku Hiva’s gorgeous (expensive) bar, restaurant ($18-$40), hotel ($225/night). Very nice! Beautiful view of Taiohae Bay. Friday evening Happy Hour, half off beautiful $14 frou-frou cocktails (or as I see it, two for the price of one!)

Swimming
Remember in the Marquesas, beach equals no-no’s. They breed in the sand between fresh and seawater. Usually, it seems, the whiter the sand, the greater the no-no’s.
Beaches: Kouvea beach on the eastern side of the bay, in front of the French Administrator’s residence. To the west, in front of Rose’s place, there’s a beach but more no-no’s than Kouvea. And over the western hill, there’s Colette’s Bay, see “Hikes” below.

Sharks?

Cleaning boat bottoms and swimming in the bay have not been a problem for us or anyone else. Locals say sharks are a problem, but Kevin from Nuku Hiva Yacht Services and the Fire Dept. haven’t heard of an actual incident. Kevin says he is never concerned about jumping in to the bay to fix a boat.
That said, I would not advise swimming near the Petit Quai as sharks feed on fishermen’s scraps. Still, many cruisers have dived here, jumping in after fallen items, without incident.

Hikes (Randonee, in French)

Sentinal/East bay mouth

Moderate, but sometimes steep. Bring water. No facilities.
Between 1.5 and 2 hours R/T at steady pace.
Leave early in the morning, before it gets hot, before 7 am is best. Take upper road above fuel station to maintained dirt path. Ask any locals how to get to the start.

Taiohae overview vista, walk up the center road, as done for Kou’eva, until you get to the top for a stunning view (hitch hike if you don’t want to walk).

Colette’s Bay, over the ridge on the other side of the bay’s west side, . . . path starts above Rose’s motel. Turn right above the motel, then another immediate right, walking down and curving left. Stay on main dirt road until your reach top of saddle/ridge. Turn left, opening and closing the barbed-wire gate. (If you turn right, you’re on your way to Hakaui Bay, a much further hike, so ask in advance where the paths turn). Colette’s Bay is where Survivor Marquesas filmed their challenges. Great swimming beach. Remember, beach equals no-no’s.

2^nd Day, Car Tour

Pre-arrange a guide in Taiohae for a driving tour ($50-$120pp). Richard, Jocylene, and Kevin speak English. Ask Tourism Office, Henri, Rose, or Kevin to help you find a guide. Or go solo, diesel 4×4 rental is about $120/day plus fuel.

Self-guided?

Taipi Vai, Tohua ceremonial grounds (toilets often available) w/modern stone tiki.
Hoomi, see church and visit with Pena, a sculptor (toilets available in Hoomi).
Hatiheu Ceremonial Grounds

Ron Dennis indicating the ancient petroglyphs depicting a mahimahi, Hatiheu
Hatiheu
- Road from Taipi Vai to Hatiheu and beyond becomes rough dirt and washed out rock, requiring 4×4.
- Once arrived, visit the archeological ceremonial grounds, see petroglyphs
- Check out the Marquesan history exposition. Great history of Anaho too.
- Virgin Mary statue atop pinnacle southwest side of bay.
- Chez Yvonne’s for lunch (toilets available). Feed a piece of baguetteto the fresh water eels adjacent her restaurant.
Aakapa vista point, beautiful Attitoka mountain ridge.
Aakapa Bay and Attitoka Mountain Range
- From Hatiheu to Aakapa and especially beyond, requires 4×4 driving skill. If it were raining, I’d pass on going to Aakapa and/or beyond.
- Some drive from there (Aakapa) directly to the airport, but told the brush surrounding this un-maintained dirt road can scratch cars.
Drive across central plateau toward airport (or from airport, depending on how you drove there). This area is called ‘Too Vii’ or as some call it, mini-New Zealand, with its fresh air and pines. Stop at vista points at the top of the mountain ridge, including Nuku Hiva’s Grand Canyon.

3^rd Day, Hakatea Bay and Hakaui Valley

Before sailing over, quickly stop off at one of the nearby stores and buy fresh baguettes in Taiohae to give to Hakaui locals that same day. Nice gift.

Leave Taiohae, sail west to Hakatea, 1-1.5 hr motorsail, and anchor on the eastern bay aka “Daniel’s” Bay, where Survivor was shot. Daniel passed away a few years ago. This is also the bay where not so long ago a German sailor was murdered by an emotionally troubled man, currently serving time in Papeete. Careful, lots of no-no’s (noseums), some even fly to the anchored boat.

Walk west along bay’s north shore to Hakaui Bay.

Wade through river to other side (good place to run your dinghy to give it a fresh water internal rinse). Along the start of your way up the path to the waterfall, make lunch reservations for your return trip (4 hrs R/T) with one of the valley families. Teiki and Kua, as you enter the village, are favorites, but all meals from any family here are great. $10pp. Warning: Don’t take Teiki’s picture without permission! Easier if you dine at his place.

Friends Kua and Teiki showed Rosie Dennis Marquesan amity when we visited the Hakaui waterfall.

Continue walking deeper inland toward one of the world’s most breathtaking waterfalls, following a not so carefully marked path. Walking through the stream is sometimes safer than negotiating slippery rocks and tree trunks over the stream. After three trips prior, we went with a guide, Thierry, and saw three times as much, and more safely.

WARNING: Rocks can fall from atop, esp. the open field closest to the falls. Move quickly and quietly when adjacent cliffs. Don’t attempt this hike if raining, or rain predicted as flash floods are likely. Swimming to the very base of the falls places you in danger of falling rocks. Fresh water eels live in the ponds and stream. Not harmful, but they often nip at your legs.

Wear bug repellent and re-apply after swimming in waterfall pond.

4^th Day, Anaho Bay

Sail to Anaho, on the northeast corner of Nuku Hiva. About a 6-hour motor-sail. Careful of the rock on the SE corner of the island, off Controller Bay and Tikapo pt.

One of the most scenic and protected bays in the Marquesas, Anaho is where Marquesans go to vacation. Can’t help but sing Rogers and Hammerstein’s Bali Hai when I turn the corner to enter the bay.

To protect the coral, anchor south of the coral-carved dinghy path, cut to the shore.

Kandu in Anaho Bay, Nuku Hiva, Marquesas

Good snorkeling, safe (no sharks, sometimes jellyfish), clear, often times manta rays. Don’t eat any fish caught there. (Ciguatera).

Fresh spring water available from a free-running hose on the beach for drinking and bathing.

Careful, no-no’s on the beach and even more so to the east. Good surfing and a plantation on the beach over the small hill to the east. Be warned—mega no-no’s on the beach, so run to the surf. Moana Sr., owns the fruit and vegetable farm and has re-opened a small pension in Anaho that serves meals. This makes two pensions that sometimeserve meals, but difficult to count on. Usually about $10 a large plate of local fare.

Many artisans live in Anaho Bay, including a well-known Marquesan tattoo artist, Moana (Jr.), when he’s not in Taiohae at Kevin’s YSNH.

Lastly, a nice hike up and over western ridge of Anaho to Hatiheu. There and back (2.5 hr R/T), start early as it gets hot. Easier coming back than going. Some brag they walk it in half the time. Again, Chez Yvonne’s, a restaurant popular with cruise ship tourists, is in Hatiheu.

5^th Day, Controller’s Bay a.k.a. Taipi Vai (South) or Hanapani (North), let the swell decide:

If the swell is coming from the north, then better to go south. Taipi Vai is where Herman Melville lived for a couple weeks and about which he later wrote his first novel, Typee. From Anaho, sail east then a sharp turn south along the east coast toward the SE corner of Nuku Hiva (careful, there’s still that killer rock off the point to watch out for).

Once in Controller Bay, there are three smaller bays from which to choose: Hoomi to the east, Hakapuvai/Hakapaa to the west (only good if no swell), and Taipi Vai in between. Coral surrounds these bays, so anchor in the middle of them.

Hakapuvai & Hakapaa, are private properties, owned by local families. Together these two beaches comprise the other Survivor beach.

We anchor in Hakapaa, the bay to starboard, more easterly, where you may spot pigs roaming the beach and might fumble your way to the pretty waterfall and pool (easy, short hike) in the back, to the west (left when facing inland from your cockpit).
Hakapuvai, to the west, has a beach of shells, excellent for combing.
Snorkeling over coral is possible in both bays.
Occasionally no-no’s can reach the boat.

If the swell is coming from the south, may be better to go north to Hanapani Bay, northwest Nuku Hiva.

Haven’t visited this bay yet, but have been told by those who have that when the swell allows, for those who prefer remote white-sand beaches and clear water without other boats nearby, this is the place to be. It’s just west of Aakapa. Aakapa is not good for anchoring. Pua, further west than Hanapani, is quiet as well, but its landscape is a tad less “magnifique.”

If you’re planning to visit Nuku Hiva, I hope this little outline helps you get the most from your visit. If you’re in the Marquesas and not planning to visit Nuku Hiva, I hope this outline entices you to reconsider. See hello to Henri for me. I love that guy!

All the best! Eric Rigney – SY Kandu

While we were in the Marquesas, we sailed over to Hiva Oa to witness the Marquesan Festival that occurs every two years. It was worth planning around!!

Matava’a Hiva Oa Opening Ceremony: December 16th 2015

Easter Island, Samoa, Fiji, Vanuatu, Darwin, Educational, Experiential, Trent's Post

Samoa Days by Trent Rigney

August 6, 2017 admin 14 Comments

Samoa was a great place to visit. We visited Apia, capital city on the island of Upolu, the smaller of the two islands. The other island is called Savai’i, a bit like Hawai’i. Samoa used to be called Western Samoa to be different from ‘American Samoa.’ ‘American Samoa’ is an American overseas territory. The people of Samoa voted their country name to be simply ‘Samoa’ when it became it’s own country, independent, no longer a protectorate of New Zealand. In Apia, they have great restaurants and really nice people. The food in Samoa is much cheaper than in Tahiti and the people were always smiling. Not much Wi-Fi in Samoa but they have great surf and exciting new things to do.

There are all kinds of special natural wonders on Upolu all owned by different villages. In order to visit these sites, instead of paying a national park fee, you pay the family or village who owns and maintains the site. We got to visit the Papase’ea Sliding Rocks, the To Sua Ocean Trench, and the Piula Cave Pool.

The Papase’ea Sliding Rocks was mind blowing. We asked locals how to get down to the slides just to make sure we wouldn’t get hurt. There were over a hundred well-maintained stairs to walk down. It was a hot day, so there were already a lot of people visiting the falls and slides. Dad asked a local how to slide down the rock. He went first, then I went, Bryce and mom last. It took some time for her to gather her courage. After awhile having slid a lot, Bryce and I went over to the waterfall. I went under and it felt like I was getting a massage. It was the best natural rock slide I’ve ever slid on. We all had a lot of fun.

The To Sua Trench was nothing I’ve ever seen before. When I saw it, it looked like a big blue hole in the ground. The sides were covered in vines and plants. It was located next to the ocean with what looked like pretty good surf swell. To get down into the water hole, we walked down some stairs then climbed down a ladder made out of huge trees. You can jump off the ladder at whatever height you want (no rules) then swim into the connecting cave. It was lightly raining, not cold though. Bryce and I jumped and swam to our hearts content in the refreshing fresh water.

View from the cliffside next to To Sua Ocean Trench. Could have been good surf!

Another day we got to swim again in cold, fresh water at Piula Cave Pool located on the north side of the island, also right next to the ocean. When you go deep in the cave where it’s dark, your body turns blue. It might turn blue because the water was super clean, or because the rock ceiling dripped water minerals in the water. It sparkled in the sun. There were two caves and we heard they were connected by a small opening that you could swim through, but the passage was dark and under the water so you would’ve had to hold your breath all the way to the other side. We didn’t have a light and a mask, so we didn’t go.

We had a great day visiting ‘The Samoan Cultural Center’ to learn about different aspects of Samoan culture. First, a trio of men danced a Samoan paddle dance.

It was much tamer than Marquesian and Tahitian dancing. It wasn’t a war dance as the three men dancing were all smiling. A woman danced too, but all she seemed to move were her arms, hardly any hip and leg movement.

After the dance, the performers treated us to a kava ceremony and explained, back when they were cannibals, if they didn’t give you a kava ceremony they would eat you. Next up, we walked to see real tattooing in progress. Samoan artists like using their old wooden tools, but in an upgraded style. They used to attach shark teeth on a stick, but now they use stainless steel combs. We got to see them tattooing on two Samoan men. It looked very painful. Every Samoan guy has the same tattoo in the same spot. For Samoan men, it’s their dream to get this tattoo, but if you start and then stop because it’s too painful, you disgrace your family. The session goes for an hour a day for six days.

Lastly, we went to see how you could make clothing and artwork from bark. You cut off a branch from a specific tree, and carefully remove the bark. Then they separate the outside of the bark from the inside layer. After, you get two shells, one that is a little sharp and one that isn’t. After you’re done scrapping the bark, it’s six times the size. They stretch it out with rock as weights and let it dry. They dry it in shade letting the wind and air dry it because the sun dries it too fast.

Samoa has some great surf, but you have to pay to surf. Families own surf sites, which I don’t think is right. You can’t own a part of an ocean! Samoa is a Christian place so you can’t surf on Sundays. There are some surf resorts in Samoa and they pay to get permission from the families to go surfing, but they can only allow 12 people to surf at a time. We went to a resort and made an arrangement to surf on the following Monday morning. The spot was an hour and ½ away from our boat, and we wanted to catch the first boat out leaving early from shore at 6:30 am. So we woke up at 4:30 to drive over to the other side of the island and the surfer guide said we couldn’t go surfing with them. He said it in a really mean and aggressive way. We left and searched for another way to paddle out to the surf later that same day. When we arrived, that surf guide was frustrated we were there.

It’s said that Samoa and Tonga are where all the Polynesians came from and that the islands form a triangle in the Pacific from New Zealand in the west, to Hawaii to the north and Easter Island at the eastern corner and all the French Polynesia islands are in the triangle. Rapa Nui is the island where the performers wear the least amount of clothing when they dance. Performers in French Polynesia and Hawaii wear similar clothing, using grass and leaves, coconut shells and pareos. In New Zealand, dancers wear warmer outfits sometimes with fake animals skins. It’s cold in New Zealand even in summer.I loved the rockslide and the trench. Bryce and I had a great day surfing the Salani reef. I loved how Samoa, being next to ‘America Samoa,’ had my favorite chips that we’ve not found anywhere else: Spicy Hot Cheetos. We were going to tour Savai’i but immigration would only let us check out from Apia and dad didn’t want to sail back against the wind. After just one week only, we left to Fiji.

Bryce's Posts, Experiential, Tua Motus & Society Islands

Surfing, Camping, Islet, Friends

June 29, 2017 admin 11 Comments

Gotta see Video: Motu surf camping

“Yo, Bryce, wanna come? We’re spending a night on the motu,” says my best friend in Raiatea, Nari. Motu is the Tahitian word for islet inside or along the reef. Nari is a young man, three years older than me, who extended his friendship at a time when I had felt abandoned by my previous group of wave-faring comrades. Together with Nari and a couple of other surfers, we would take a boat to surf along the reef’s passes. My immediate response was “Yes!” hoping there wouldn’t be the rain and 25-knot winds like our last campout attempt. After school, I ran back to tell my parents the plan and to start packing for the next two days. First, I packed a hammock to sleep-in and a rain jacket, just in case this experience played out similar to the last. I also packed two extra pair of underwear, one pair of board shorts, one extra shirt, and a thin sheet in the form of a sleeping bag that would keep off the hundreds of mosquitos that would most certainly try to make a buffet out of me. Completing my packing was my surfboard, of course, my machete & sheath, and a 1.5-liter bottle of water. Nari had asked if I could bake a cake like I had before, to serve as breakfast before the morning surf. Hurriedly, my mother and I baked a 5 x 8-inch chocolate cake.

Around 17h30 (5:30pm) Nari showed up in his boat, the one we would use to go surfing as you can only reach the passes by boat. As I loaded my things into his boat, I handed Nari a thousand Polynesian francs or US$10 to help pay for gas. Filling up the tank at the gas station, we came across a few of the other kids who would be camping with us that night. They also needed to purchase gas before heading out. Our outboard full of gas, we headed south from Uturoa to the motu and our hope for surfing adventure.

At the start of our voyage, Nari steered the boat outside the reef to engage in a little bit of fishing along the way. I was handed the fishing pole so that he could steer the boat as close to the breaking waves as possible. After ten minutes, I yelled, “I caught something, I caught something!” As I reeled in the line, I sensed a bit of pride knowing I hadn’t let down Nari, an expert fisherman. Nari steered the boat away from the reef as I brought the jackfish, the size of my forearm, inside. “Hey, Bryce, do you think you could steer the boat so that this time I could cast the line?” asked Nari. With that I took the tiller and copied him as best I could, staying close to the waves like he had. Twenty minutes passed with no success (I had been reluctant to direct the boat as close to the reef as Nari had). As we approached the entrance to our destination, Nari reeled in his empty hook and I caught sight of our fellow campers out in the water already surfing. Once ready, Nari said, “Throw the anchor!” When the hook grabbed, we threw off our shirts, snatched up our boards and paddled out towards our friends. While greeting all the local surfers, I watched for the sweet spot, where I would set myself up.

That afternoon, we stayed out until we could no longer see. One by one, trickling away, the various boats hoisted their anchors and headed back home, or in our case right next door to our motu campsite. From the surf, we saw hoards of boats gathered along the white sand beach of the motu. Finding our group, we stationed the boat and tied the painter around a tree. Afterwards, I unpacked my things from the boat and searched for a spot to set-up camp for the next two days. Because of all the pretty distractions that had just finished their evening swims, it took me a while to find a spot. I settled in the middle of two trees behind the fireplace, attaching my hammock to a coconut-less coconut tree and a chestnut tree (didn’t need the possible headache). That night all the kids circled around the fire to talk, listen to music, drink, smoke, and to barbecue whatever food it was they had brought to share for the night. Nari was the main chef that night, cooking breadfruit, sausage, rice, and potato gratin. It was practically an all-you-could-eat buffet surrounded by friends!

The best surfer in our group, Heremanu, who I looked up to, was the only one besides me not to drink or smoke. I was glad that it was with someone like him that I could relate, and appreciated him more for it. As the moon rose higher in the sky, our fires burned lower. Nari knowing that I was the earliest bird in the group whispered, “Hey, Bryce, I know that you’re going to be the first to wake up. Can you wake me up early in the morning so we can be the first to go surf…. and gorge on your cake? Don’t tell anyone else about the cake. All right?”

My normal routine was to go to bed early and wake up early, so I hit the sack at 21h00 (9:00pm) for a good night’s sleep. As instructed by my dad, I positioned myself at a 20-degree angle in the hammock. I slept well through the night, and with the luck of no rain or falling coconuts, I arose with the early morning light. As I walked around, I heard the wrestling of giant ground crabs, tupas, running back to holes they had dug for themselves for shelter. That morning, despite the fact that they had gone to bed at 3:00 am, Nari and Heremanu woke up on their own. A few of the other kids had also woken up eager to go surfing as well. Being that my friends were all Polynesian, the three of us were obliged to share the cake and to bring them along surfing.

Before leaving, we all headed to the beach to examine the morning’s surf conditions.

At the last minute, Vaimiti, the fourth musketeer in our group, awoke to join the surf excursion. With surfboards, wax, and friends all loaded inside Nari’s boat, we took off. Heading to the pass we saw another boat arriving at the same time as us. Vaimiti anchored the boat in a stable position. Given the okay to go, I hopped in the water and paddled out looking for the day’s sweet spot. There was only enough light out in the sky to see my own hand, yet the others as well started to paddle out. As the first set started to roll in, I placed myself in the right spot to catch the wave. Once the wave started to lift and carry my board, I stopped paddling and popped up to my feet, surfing the dark, glassy figure of the wave. For two hours, we were a group of seven, surfing a 40-second left, reef-barreling wave in the middle of the South Pacific Ocean. Towards the end of our morning session, a group of 14 body-boarders showed up to crowd the occasional seven-wave sets. After three hours of great surfing, we returned back to the motu for some much needed lunch. This way, we could eat, regain energy, and wait out the crowded surf spot.

All the girlfriends clad in bikinis had come out to play volleyball and petanque (like bocce ball) on the white sand beach of the motu. I unfortunately was one of the few fellows left to keep his hands in his pants. For lunch, Nari and I reignited the fire to boil rice and to heat up a few cans of corned beef. While waiting for the food to cook, we joined in on the beach activities. After a few games of bocce ball, the scent of food led all the famished clan into a huddle. The music and the plates came out as we dug into the huge portion of mixed rice and corned beef hash. Not a grain was left in the bowl.

Our group of four musketeers, anxious to head back to surf, walked over to the beach to scout out the new afternoon conditions. Seeing as the waves had grown in height, the four of us headed to the boat with haste for another session. Approaching the pass, we watched six foot linear barrels being surfed. We quickly anchored the boat amongst five other boats and flew into the water. It was the best day of surfing I have ever had. The waves were perfect. In a single wave, one could maneuver three carves and shoot out of a hollow tube big enough to stand in. I had only ever dreamed of waves like these. It was truly a gift to be surfing these perfect waves with my awesome friends!

Conversely, wiping out on one of these perfect waves would land you cuts from the sharp coral reef just below the surf. Respectfully, GoPro photography was forbidden. The locals do not want their home waves to be overtaken by professional surfers from around the globe.

With the swell picking up, two of our party too frightened to continue, caught a boat ride back to the motu. That left 8 of us who continued to surf the waves of our lives, including the ‘early bird’ guy from the boat that had arrived before us that morning. I watched my friends as they surfed, shooting out from being fully covered in clear blue tubes and carving up and down those perfect lines with grace.

It was the happiest day of my life that I could remember. To be experiencing my Polynesian dream amongst good people was truly awesome. We continued to surf until rashes, jellyfish stings, sunburns, burning muscles, and reef cuts covered our whole bodies. After four hours of doing what we eat, sleep, talk and dream about, we returned back to the motu to find some more food . . . Hungry!

With all our energy left in the pass, making our way to the motu’s luxurious fresh water spigot came with great difficulty. We rinsed our things and ourselves then brought the boat back to the campsite to tie it off. De-energized, dehydrated, reef cut, and starved, we looked like a bunch of bedraggled kids who had just returned from being exiled in the desert. Immediately upon arriving back in camp, we scavenged potable water to drink and snacks to satisfy our needs. With our stomachs satiated, we hit the sack to nap and ready ourselves for the day’s evening surf; yes, morning, noon, AND night! After an hours worth of rest, us four musketeers were ready to go back to the pass, cut, burnt, and all. At around 16h (4:00pm) the boat departed full of newly waxed surfboards and brow beaten Tahitians. The local crowd, including our loyal ‘early bird’ friend, was still there. They were shredding what was now a 4-foot barreling line. Though the afternoon swell had died down, so had the wind. We caught wave after wave, landing ourselves more reef cuts, stings, and rashes. Nothing stopped us from our love for surfing. As the light dimmed so did the band of surfers who needed to get across the lagoon to their main island homes before dark. The few to prevail included us and the ‘early bird,’ who seemed to know everything about his home pass. We couldn’t get enough, the swell and conditions were too great to pass up. Though as the time passed, the sun and the light descended to hide behind the mountain. Too dark to read the waves any longer, we left the pass and headed back to camp, having added two more great hours of surf that day. Being as the conditions were too good to pass up, a few of us decided to stay for an extra night on the motu. Our only problem was the food rations.

The remaining group of ten walked over to the showers to rinse our salty dry skin.

Dinner was breadfruit and rice mixed with the fish I had caught with Nari on the way over. Again, the alcohol and weed came out for the ones who wanted it. With my good friend Heremanu being one of the kids to have taken off, I was the only ‘good’ boy left. Towards 20h00 (8:00pm), dinner was ready. Being hungry surfers, we ate like champions, going back for seconds and thirds. I kept to my same schedule, going to bed right after dinner. Even after the nine hours of surf, the others stayed up late till one in the morning, talking and being teenagers.

That morning, lucky to have slept well through a second clear, starry night without rain and deadly coconut droppings, I was awoken by Vaimiti. He had the bright idea to wake everybody up an hour early for no apparent reason. So being awake, we pre-packed our things into the boat, ate breakfast, and waited for the sun to come up. We couldn’t help but walk over to the lookout spot a few times, anxious to see what the day’s conditions might be. After thirty minutes of waiting, a speck of light glimmered over the horizon, giving us a peek at what our waves were going to be. Our guesstimate was 4-foot. And with that, we motored off.

Again the six of us guided the boat through the exit of the motu coral reef and out to the breakwater. Ten minutes later we dropped anchor and jumped into the rolling waves. I was the first to start out and swam away from the boat to relieve myself of a full two days holding tank. Swimming as fast as I could away from my fish food, I saw two more boats arriving to profit from the perfect waves. In one boat was a group of three older guys who could hold their own, and in the other, our good friend ‘early bird’ who came with nothing but his surfboard, machete, and spear gun.

With the tardiness of the others, I had gone ahead and caught the first wave of the day. As the surfers came together, we exchanged friendly greetings, bantering about our hopes for the day’s conditions. Later in the morning, more and more people appeared including a group of ten to sum up 20 and counting. I had never seen so many people in a given Raiatea surf spot. It was as if all the known island surfers had gotten wind of the day before, and all decided to come to the pass.

Becoming more and more crowded, it felt as if the sets were an eternity away; more and more people started to snake one another. Eventually, I made my way to the top of the line where the three older dudes tended to remain stationed. I watched as one of the three started to loose his energy, no longer able to easily catch the waves he paddled for. A set of waves rolled in and being first in line, I began to paddle for the first wave of the set, thinking normally people like to wait for the bigger waves behind. While paddling for the wave, I saw the fatigued older man cutting to the inside to try and catch the same wave. I continued paddling thinking that the man would be overtaken by the wave, like all the other times, but this time he seemed exceptionally ferocious and determined to catch it. Paddling head to head, I felt the wave lift me up and I popped up on my board. I saw the man giving all his might to catch the wave. He stood to his feet finding balance and pointed the nose of his board to the left down the line. But I had already caught it! I looked back at him with an expression like “What are you doing…I was on it first!” but he kept going. With the wave starting to close, I left the line disappointed, while the water pushed the man further down the reef. As he left the wave, he looked enraged by the fact that I had not relinquished the wave to him. On top of it, because that wave had been the first of the set, he had to deal with the next few crashing waves. I paddled back out with all eyes on me as I heard the enraged Tahitian spitting insults as loud as he could.

I didn’t know what I had done wrong. Normally, in California, that should have been my wave. I had started paddling for the wave before him, and I had caught the wave before him. Yet I could still hear him bellowing things like “bastard…stupid kid…idiot, etc.” The other older men, with whom I had previously surfed, turned their backs on me with a sense of contempt. Others started to say, “Kid, you need to get out of here. That guy’s gonna come over and start wailing on you…you really need to leave!” A few others came over offering me support and comfort saying, “Don’t worry, you did nothing wrong. Just wait a few and then go apologize.” So I did. After a few minutes, I started my approach, cautiously paddling closer to him, knowing any second he could just start raging on me. My friends; including, Nari, Vaimiti, Antoine, and a friend’s dad, John, came along to cover my back should things go sour. As I got closer to the guy, adrenaline surged over me. Within six feet, I stopped to sit up on my board and began apologizing.

He turned around and started with, “I know who you are, Bryce. My friends told me about you. They told me you were a disrespectful American who snaked and cut in line whenever you were surfing.” Then he cussed some more before continuing. “Bryce, you need to start being more respectful with us elders.” A bit more cussing, he approached until he was approximately a foot away then said: “But it’s not just you, it’s all of you arrogant little boys who don’t give a rats ass about how you surf and disrespect those of us who are older.” Then he started to say crazy things like how he and his people had formed the passes and how the elders should have priority out in the water. He continued to go on for a while about respect and how things needed to change. Since half of what he was saying was in Tahitian and the other half in French, I was having a hard time understanding. But after about ten minutes of him lecturing and humiliating me for what I didn’t realize was a disrespectful action, he calmed down. I repeated that I was sorry once more and that was the end of that.

I thanked my friends for having my back, then paddled back into the sweet spot with the other 20 surfers who had been gossiping about what had passed. An hour later, we caught our last waves for the morning before pulling anchor. Cautiously guiding the boat through the motu coral heads, we made our way back to the fresh water spigot to rinse. Following our now familiar routine of tying up the boat, we rummaged to find whatever food was left over to eat for lunch.

Heremanu: guy holding the camera
Nari: super buff guy sitting down
Vaimiti: guy in the back with machete

Now we were only three, as the other two surfers with us were picked up to return home. Since breadfruit takes a while to cook, we stoked up the fire, setting a timer for an hour nap. Awoken just in time to pull out the cooked breadfruit, we heated the beans on the dying fire while the charred breadfruit cooled enough to remove the skin. The other surfers left behind three baguettes. Once Nari and Vaimiti had skinned the warm breadfruit, we jumbled the baked beans and breadfruit together into the bread to make a breadfruit/bean sandwich of sorts…a tasty and filling last meal on the motu.

Since the music had gone home with the others, we chatted about how incredible our last couple of days had been, and how we were going to miss each other when I left on Kandu to continue my family’s world voyage.

Enjoying our last bites, we prepared our departure from the motu. Once I was done stuffing away my single person hammock and personal junk, I offered to help Nari and Vaimiti put away the 14-person tent. Together with a bit of punching, kicking and shoving, we got the tent into its small bag, the size of a small car wheel. We then tossed our things into the boat praying they would stay dry, grabbed the remaining trash bags, and pushed off the motu for the last time. Knowing it was going to be the last time I would experience anything like this again soon, I felt a sadness pass over me as I said goodbye to the motu. Yet our day wasn’t over as we still had one last afternoon surf session to relish. Hastily anchoring the boat next to Heremanu’s family boat, in my excitement, I jumped out first to greet Heremanu and his dad, who is the best surfer I’ve ever had the pleasure to surf with.

That afternoon’s current was entering the pass, pushing us away from the line-up and making it hard to paddle out. I examined the waves finding that they were 7-foot tall and made a little messy by the 10 knots of on-shore wind. The nine surfers caught huge outsides and enjoyed being out in the water, laughing with and at each other – sharing only smiles. After an hour, Vaimiti broke his board, so he and I paddled to the boat to catch a break. We grabbed some fins and snorkels to head back out to watch the action under water. Vaimiti and I pretended to spear huge parrotfish that were gorging on the sharp coral reef. When we reached the sweet spot, we watched through the clear water the surfers catch drop-in barrels and carve up the waves above. The sight under water was as mesmerizing as it was on top of the wave.

We swam around the surf point for half an hour before getting bored and returning to the boat. I pulled my board back out. As I paddled over, Nari shouted, “Just a few more minutes!” I decided to make the best of it – to catch the biggest outside in the set. I positioned myself alongside Heremanu’s dad and watched as the other surfers caught the smaller waves. Then, the time for waiting was over as a big set rolled in. Though the first few waves in the set were good size, we continued to stall on the outside in hopes of a bigger wave.

The moment came when the momma wave peaked. Both of us started to paddle. I looked at the surfing legend before me, (Heremanu’s dad) and asked permission to take his rightful wave. He looked over and responded, “Yeah, it’s yours.” With that I was off, digging deep with each stroke to catch the sizeable six-foot wave rising behind me. “Go, go, go, go, go, Bryce. It’s all yours!” yelled Nari, Vaimiti, and Heremanu. Once I felt the lift, I popped to me feet and readied myself for a tuck n’ barrel. As the lip of the wave fell over me, baby blue water and a slim hole at the end was all I saw as I rode Fa’aroa’s glassy tube. I rode inside for a magical three slow seconds before I shot out of the tube and paddled back to the boat. My friends caught their last waves and also paddled back to brag about each other’s waves. Before picking up anchor, we quietly sat and watched the beautiful curling waves for a good ten minutes, then the three of us motored back to our homes to recount our weekend’s stories. I hope never to forget those three days spent camping in French Polynesia, off the island of Raiatea, on the motu with all my Polynesian friends! Bryce Rigney

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Daily Logs: Maupiha’a and Mr. Toad

June 12, 2017 admin 8 Comments

Daily Log Notes & Observations by Leslie Rigney

Wednesday, May 10, 2017 – Back on the blue. We had an exceptional time in Maupiha’a (Mopelia). The dinner we shared with Norma and Harris was absolutely delicious. It started out with a home-brewed aperitif made from leavening, water and lychee fruit, aged over three months. Incredibly tasty! We should have gotten the recipe! We then enjoyed a coconut palm heart salad, seasoned rice with home grown green beans and as much lobster and coconut crab as we could eat, perfectly cooked and seasoned. The coconut crab was my favorite as I had never seen or experienced it before. Then dessert was a delicious fruit salad of papaya, banana, and coconut shavings served with chocolate cake that we brought.

The boys opted out of the cake if you can believe it, because they had previously set-up their tent and bedding for a campout on coconut crab motu. With the setting sun, they needed to zoom away before they could no longer see the coral obstacles! We didn’t hear from them again until morning, but we worried terribly, as a nasty storm blew in just after Eric and I returned back to the boat after dinner, rocking the boat violently all night long.

Here is Bryce’s recount of that crazy night: “Trent and I set-up our tent and bedding while there was plenty of sun before dinner. We returned to the crab-inhabited motu after dinner at sundown with the dinghy. We made sure to tie securely the dinghy to a tree in order not to lose it or we would have in BIG trouble. From the beach, we walked back to the tent on our way collecting firewood as there were dead trees everywhere. I used the skills that I had learned while camping with friends in Raiatea: how to collect palm fronds and turn them into bundles of fire starting material. With dry leaves collected from under a big tree and piled over rocks made into a hill, unlike in survivor, I started the fire with a bic. Then we added sticks and palm fronds over that. Once ignited, it burned hot. I turned on my little boombox to calm our nerves about the possible invasion of crabs that we had been warned about during dinner…we were a tad bit nervous. We looked for more firewood to last the night and prayed that it wouldn’t rain. As Trent was collecting firewood, I heard, “Oh my God!” coming from Trent’s direction. “Bryce, Bryce, LOOK, there’s one of those crabs!” The body was the size of a man’s hand lengthwise. It was dark blue in color – they only turn red when they’re cooked. The legs made it look enormous. So I grabbed my machete and forcibly pushed it away as a warning so it wouldn’t come nearer to our camp. The crab was not aggressive, just curious. He quickly scuttled away. We saw three of them in total, but after we scared the first one away, the others didn’t approach. I think we were camped close to the first crab’s nest. It became very dark, so we scrambled inside the tent to play cribbage. We started to fall asleep, when we heard sprinkling rain. Trent said, “Gee, I hope our tent is waterproof!?!” Then it started to rain harder. We felt a couple drips, but thought, “Oh, we’ll be fine.” A little later, we spread out our feet and felt water. Water had started to pour into the side of our tent. Thank goodness Mom had the idea to bring mats to sleep on. As it was we were getting soaked. Then the wind picked up and it started to rain harder. The top of our tent, even covered with a fly, dripped constantly. At about 2 in the morning, we thought about going back since the rain had stopped, but then it started raining in force again. We slept poorly, wet and cold, huddled together soaked on our somewhat dry mats. Of course, our fire was drenched. Up at sunrise, we quickly packed-up and returned to Kandu. Mom and Dad were relieved to see us and the dinghy in tact! Evidently they had worried about us all night long.”

The next morning, due to not getting quality sleep, the boys slept on the boat while Norma and Harris took Eric and me on a ride in their four wheeler to the other end of the atoll. The men rode in the front cab while Norma and I enjoyed a pleasant outdoor air ride in the back lounging on a wooden loveseat. At the end of the driveable atoll, we met a couple that hailed from a family that had lived on the atoll the longest. Along with harvesting copra, they raised pigs. Their living quarters were simple, yet tidy. The 4 pigs were all females and babies; the males had already been harvested. Fresh off the tree drinking coconuts were offered all around…what incredible hospitality.

Making our back to chez Norma and Harris, Harris stopped off to determine a good small palm tree to harvest for eating. It was amazing how he chopped down and then stripped the outer bark to expose the soft inner whites of the interior…palm heart. The palm heart Harris offered us was enormous, the size of a T-Rex bone. It tasted sweet with a delicate flavor of coconut, bien sur!

5/10/2017 10 pm

Leaving Maupiha’a lagoon in the late morning, we were on our way to Apia, Samoa. It’s a solid portside broad reach – our main sail, fluorescent orange staysail, and genoa are flying. The two larger sails, main and genoa, are reefed to maximize power but minimize heeling over, thus increasing our balance. Due to the large swell, it’s a ‘Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride.’ Trent was nervous to perform the first watch, but armed with his new book, he faired well. No rain, but nevertheless wet due to ocean spray into the windward side cockpit. All hatches and port-lights are locked down tight. The swell is large and pushes us over regularly. Everything is rattling.

5/11/2017 6:00 am. Exhausted, Bryce woke me early. Rough night. Eric was up a several times. The wind got stronger during the night. They had to furl in the genoa.

5/11/2017 11:30 pm. Not much has changed. Still wild though I dared to make pancakes this morning and pasta spaghetti for dinner….no easy feat when the pots want to come tumbling off the already gimbling stove. Had a few spills making the sauce. Bryce made Capuccino this morning and spilled the entire quantity. In reaction, he threw a spoon. When I spill something due to an aggressive wave, the expletives are many!

Water water everywhere, not a drop to drink!

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Bora to Maupiti to Maupiha’a: 130 nautical miles

May 25, 2017 admin 6 Comments

Daily Log Notes & Observations by Leslie and Eric

Good friend Bowman Puahio from Bora took the boys spear fishing & scurfing of a jet ski!! Woohoo!

5-5-2017 Friday

We cleared Bora Bora Customs & Immigration after a bit of a run around from the local gendarme (a newby officer misdirected us on several accounts) by 10:30 am and departed Vaitare at 11h30 for a 17h00 arrival in Maupiti. The passage was straightforward yet enlivened at the end while heading through the Maupiti reef pass. It was like ‘Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride’ motoring through the deep but somewhat narrow pass into the lagoon. Trent and Bryce and I were all posted on deck to watch for coral heads while Eric maintained as straight a motor forward as possible.

We rode in on the substantial swell at a 6.5 knot over-the-water clip with a 3 knot exiting tide, giving us 3.5 knots of forward way, plenty to steer by. The conjunction of swell and exiting current made for a tumultuous yet thrilling entry. Sometimes Kandu rowdily slid left or right, even under Eric’s steady hand. We were all exhilarated and relieved to have passed successfully into the lagoon, to easily navigate through the lagoons’ large coral heads and to find an empty mooring. Once settled, fellow cruiser comrades Walter and Meryl from s/v Flying Cloud (first met them in Atuona, Hiva Oa, Marquesas) dinghied over to share some refreshments. It was great to discover they were in Maupiti and to catch-up on their latest adventures.

Trent Rigney proud of his part in the Bora Bora spearfishing catch.

While preparing Bryce & Trent’s spearfishing catch from Bora for dinner, the boys and I played a few rounds of our new favorite game, Cribbage, taught to us by Ron and Michele while Eric borrowed Flying Cloud’s dinghy to head ashore in order to meet up with contacts for whom the next day we would be transporting items and mail to atoll Maupiha’a aka Mopelia by French sailors. We slept comfortably in the calm lagoon. Leslie

Maupiti island with s/v Flying Cloud in the distance as seen from Kandu.

5-6-2017 22h00 Maupiti to Maupiha’a (Mopelia)

First night-watch since what seems to be forever. It’s clear out with more than a ¾ moon illuminating the clouds and rolling dark sea. We have the genoa out, but probably only gaining a knot of speed as we’ve got the engine running. Engine sounds normal. Kandu fairs well, but it is pretty rocky and rolly since there’s no wind. Yet we are blessed with light swell and no rain. We have our cockpit canopy up which during the day provides much needed protection from the blazing sun. Hard to believe we’re on the road again after so much time being stationary. I’m not yet adapted to the constant movement. My stomach is a bit off. Leslie

Eric Rigney sending Delorme satellite texts while enjoying the open cockpit air.

5-7-2017 Sunday 2h40 am

Nice motorsail. 5+ knots making good time. Nice stop at Maupiti. Swam with 2 mantas at their cleaning station near pass: beautiful majestic creatures. Picked up supplies for Mopelia families. Had ice cream and spent the last of our French Polynesia money on souvenirs and gifts. Shopkeeper gifted Leslie earrings and a matching purple pencil urchin bracelet!

Ice Cream store/Souvenir shop where Maupiti locals naturally congregate.

Bought our last baguettes for awhile and eggs too. In the center of the very small town, young boys hailed Bryce from Lycee d’Uturoa. (Those boys were home from the high school’s boarding school for the weekend.) Enjoyed visiting with Flying Cloud. Borrowed their dinghy. French elections yesterday. Interesting to see how the small community was buzzing with energy as a result of the elections. Excited to motor through Mopelia’s extremely narrow pass and to meet the families. It’s a Fr. Polynesia site I’ve never visited. Due to our connections, we may just get to gorge on some of their local lobster and coconut crab. We’ll see. Eric

5-8-2017 Monday

Motored safely through the narrow Maupiha’a pass with Bryce up the mast at the first spreader to direct us around coral heads. Anchored at 10h00 am quite a distance from the shore to avoid the large coral heads. Due to storms or squalls, shifting winds could blow the boat in any direction dragging our chain and possibly wrapping it around coral heads. Later bringing up anchor tends to be tricky. Right away, a local fishing panga motored over to us by two young women. They had been eagerly anticipating our arrival us being laden with their packages sent from their Maupiti families. Cordiality extended on both sides, we unloaded their things onto their boat brimming over with smiles, happy to have been of service.

Goodies that Kandu offered to each of the two families knowing they rarely get supplies.

They invited us to dinner that evening in thanks. Shortly thereafter, a darling couple, Norma and Harris, motored over to greet and thank us for transporting their belongings. Offering us lunch of island delicacies: seafood coconut cucumber salad and steamed whole fish, they were excited to get to know us and asked us to join them for dinner the following evening also mentioning that they’d like to take us on a 4×4 tour of the atoll. Wow! Trent took one trial bite of the seasnail salad saying, “That’s interesting…” Eric, Bryce and I found it to have a delicious taste with an intriguing texture. Leslie

Maupiha’a Coconut crab captured and cooked – ready to eat.

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Leslie’s Letters : Stones and Modems

May 9, 2017 admin 5 Comments

May 2, 2017

Mom and Dad –
Happy 78th Birthday this Friday Dad! Happy Mother’s Day on the 14th Mom!
We are always thinking of you!

Ron & Rosie Dennis at San Xavier Mission in Tucson

Such a lovely photo of the two of you at the San Xavier Mission in Tucson. I also am astonished to see photos of you riding on donkeys. Wow, full of surprises you are. That’s great! So glad you’re out doing it: traveling and living life to the fullest. Whoohooo!

Ron and Michele left yesterday for Bora Bora by plane. We were sad and frustrated to see them go as we had planned to sail with them to Bora and then to Maupiti.

Kandu captain and crew saying goodbye to Ron and Michele Bruchet

We have been slowed down due to two things: Eric was troubled by a kidney stone and we had a radio problem that we thought was going to be fixed by some parts brought in by another friend, but after three days of messing with it, the pactor modem seems to be broken, unfixable here.

Eric’s kidney stone started giving him trouble on Friday morning when we were leaving the Miri Miri surf site after spending 2 days sailing around Taha’a. He took 800 mgs of Ibuprofen around 9:00 am to reduce swelling and just after he took another 800 mgs of ibuprofen around noon, it seems he felt the most amount of pain, and must have passed it. We staged and enjoyed a lovely happy hour on the dock that night with our friends in Marina d’Uturoa hoping to leave on Sunday. It was a lovely farewell gathering. But based on the recommendation and help of two doctors who also live on their boat, Eric walked over to the emergency on Saturday morning to have an X-ray performed. Eric’s kidney stones are always oxalate, so you can see them on an x-ray if he has one. In fact, they could not see a single one, so either some stones exist but are so small they will pass, or he doesn’t have any more for the time being. This one was his 10th! Since it has passed, we can depart into the big blue without worrying that he will be troubled by the pain of passing kidney stones – at least for now! He is under doctor’s orders to drink twice as much water as before, preferably with lemon!

Eric Rigney drinking lemon water – Doctor’s orders!

On the other subject of the pactor modem, unfortunately it appears that the modem is faulty and needs to be repaired in the states. The system is so antiquated, there are only a few people who know how to repair it, and one of them lives in San Francisco. It looks we’re going to send it home with Ron and Michele to be repaired. We’ll have to sail without it for a while.
In the meantime, Eric set Bryce to read a manual on obtaining weather faxes straight from the radio through some special software that we already have…perhaps he’s going to become our weatherman specialist. And if we’re so fortunate, that’s all we’ll need to download weather grib files. We’ll see. To buy a new pactor modem we think would be about $1,500 and we just don’t want to spend that kind of money on electronics right now if we can avoid it.

We are pulling out of the marina tomorrow morning – finishing up last minute details today. I may pop into the market one more time for more oatmeal…as we pretty much used up all I had on stock. We plan to catch-up with Ron and Michele in Bora. If we leave tomorrow morning, Wednesday, we’ll arrive there by the evening and we could meet them for dinner and perhaps spend Thursday with them depending on their schedule. We want to get a bit more instruction on the new game they taught us: Cribbage. They leave on Friday for Huahine. We’ll pull-up anchor also on Friday for Maupiti.

Trent and Leslie Rigney learning to play Cribbage – our new favorite game!

Our plan is to visit Maupiti island for a day, then head north to Mopelia – a very small atoll to deliver mail and enjoy some lobster, which they have a plethora. Then we’ll head on towards Samoa, Fiji, Vanuatu and make Darwin by mid-July. Lots to see, lots of surf, lots of sailing. Our ocean passages will be about 10 days each, god willing. We simply don’t have time to stop in the Cook Islands or the Solomon Islands because we plan to join the Indonesia Rally which leaves Darwin July 28th. We did some research and found out that Papua New Guinea has a big theft problem. So we decided not to stop there.

It was lovely having Ron and Michele aboard. They were incredibly helpful – Ron worked a lot with Eric and was able to engage in some handyman issues that needed addressing, plus he washed dishes!!! Michele shopped food inventory with me, cleaned, vacuumed, helped with dinner, even planned and made dinner one night, and cleaned things all on her own volition (what a concept!)…generally reducing my work and stress. Amazing. I had a wife for a week!!

I only wish we had been able to sail with the two of them as planned to Bora Bora and then Maupiti. It’s frustrating. However, we did sail around the island of Taha’a together and got to enjoy the corral gardens there on the west side of the island near the Pearl Lodge Hotel. Also on Taha’a across from the corral gardens, we enjoyed an educational tour of a combined rum manufacturing plant, coconut oil, Temanu oil and vanilla bean provider. I had been buying the coconut oil from that very business, Pari Pari, since we arrived here in Raiatea. It’s the only local company around pressing virgin and edible coconut oil. I mentioned to the owner farmer giving us the tour, that I bought out all his bottles of coconut oil from the store that retails it in Raiatea. He was tickled to hear that.

The four of us are excited to head out. With the last minute details worked out: laundry, cleaning up ropes and installing the wind vane, we feel ready in mind and boat. Aside from the radio problem which previously allowed us to send emails at sea, and most importantly enabled us to download weather grib files, everything else is working great. We’ll get by with our delorme texting device and I can’t say I ever communicated by sailmail anyway. I send this email to you with big hugs, thoughts and well wishes for you r special days this Month of May. Please take very good care of yourselves. Did I mention to you that Curtis and Joel will be coming to see us in Darwin in July? Sending you virtual hugs and kisses

Experiential, Leslie's Letters, Leslie's Posts, Tua Motus & Society Islands

Leslie’s Letters: Cracking the Chrysalis

May 7, 2017 admin 1 Comment

April 19, 2017

Chers Maman et Papa,

Today, Wednesday – we have been making great progress on getting the boat loaded, newly rigged, tuned up and ready to go. All of our stored stuff has been pulled out of our friend Sylvana’s house, and is either sitting on top of the boat to be tucked away, to clean, or to get rid of. We have now sold all of our posted items except for Bryce’s surfboard which we’ll try to sell along the way.I have been shopping for lots and lots of food supplies, knowing that our next big food shopping won’t be until Fiji.

The boys have been working so hard for us now that they’re out of school. For Easter, Eric went out and bought some chocolates and hid them in the boat for a mini egg hunt. They loved it. He’s so thoughtful. I didn’t think to do that myself…wasn’t in the mood as Trent had been nastily sassing me the night before. Sigh.

Not much news since our phone call – just working on boat stuff. Eric has discovered some problems with our electronic instruments, specifically our pactor modem. It turns our radio into wifi for email and weather reports. We got a name for an electrician here and hope that he can fix it for us.

Annie requested that we send back Bill’s Snuggie that he left. We’ve been enjoying it since the Galapagos – all of us finding it quite useful, so I decided to make ourselves one out of a blanket that I had bought to use as filling for the Kandu totes. Since I’m not going to be able to get making those right away and I have plenty of felt from you, I figured it would be the perfect use for the huge blanket. Also – made some nice covers for our cockpit pillows out of the green sunbrella material that I had left over. They look so much better now. I still plan to make some covers for our interior settee seats. Looks like I may have time, as things are coming together well. I went out and bought a little more fabric to match the fabric you brought. The banquet seats are quite long. I will end up using all that material plus the new.

Our car starter is performing worse and worse. The poor girl who bought the car knows all about it, but says it’s okay because her father is a mechanic. We turn the car over to her on April 24th. That will be a sad day…no more easy wheeling!

Finally got a good video of the little Tupa crabs that run around here digging holes. I’ll share it on Facebook. It had been raining really hard, and his hole must have gotten filled with water. Dusk – I came out of the laundry room and frightened him on the sidewalk. Poor little crab had his claws up in the air and being trapped really couldn’t run away. Eric fortunately showed up with his camera – so we got some good photos and video of him. Most of the time the little crabs are hard to photograph as they scurry away so quickly.

We were invited over to Hauari’i’s grandparents home for a lovely Sunday afternoon Mexican extravaganza (remember that Hauari’i’s granddadis Mexican married to a Polynesian. Hauari’i is Trent’s friend from school). Jose taught us how to make tortillas and the kids had a blast playing ping-pong around the world and then they went swimming, kayaking, outrigging, and scurfing in the lagoon out in back of their home! Neat!

The boys did have a great Va’a pirogue competition this past Monday. And the Saturday before they ran all the way around the island in relay with the same group of runners that placed well during the LaCrosse season that you witnessed.The previous weekend we got together with Sylvana who led us on a very nice hike up to a local private waterfall. We were glad to enjoy a few more local activities before leaving this lovely Polynesian Island of Raiatea. Loving you, Leslie.

Leslie's Letters, Leslie's Posts, Tua Motus & Society Islands

Leslie’s Letters : Ron & Michele Arrived!

May 7, 2017 admin 2 Comments

Bienvenue a Raiatea nos amis Ron and Michel Bruchet!

April 24, 2017

Hello Mom and Dad – I know you had some busy days getting packed up for your time in LQ and travels to Tucson.

Just wanted to say hello and let you know Ron and Michele arrived yesterday safe and sound carting along a HUGE duffel bag full of our boat parts, amazon orders, and Spicy Hot Cheetos X 6 big bags for the boys! It was a bit like Christmas sorting through the various orders. Wonderful fun. Michele was sweet to also bring some fun new spices that will liven my cooking. I have been feeling a bit bored with my general menu fare – so that will brighten things up a bit for sure.

Feeling a bit tired today as yesterday we did a lot of cleaning in prep for our guests’ arrival. Ron and Michele went for a hike up Tapioi while crew Kandu worked on various chores to get ready to depart. Ron and Michele are sweet, sweet, sweet yet I imagine their minds are a little boggled having to deal with the smallness of space, and not being able to get everything one might want at a moment’s notice. Fortunately the stores stock oatmeal and okay wine which was on their list. Organic foods and non-gluten are available, but very expensive. In general food is expensive except for white rice, white flour, boxed milk, white sugar, canned butter and baguettes, which are considered “daily needs” and are subsidized. I don’t buy the expensive organic or fancy items; note-to-self, organic or raw peanut butter is nonexistent. Skippy it is and Nutella, of course! Buying raw nuts here is impossible. Fortunately I have a good supply that I hoard in the freezer for banana bread. Being away from the US commercial haven of the world for the last 2.5 years, I no longer think about the things that we can’t get, just the things that we can.

Sending you hugs and love. Gotta get lunch on. Maybe Sashimi today. Mmmm good.

Tuna Sashimi over a bed of cabbage and grated carrots served with rice and quinoa! Fresh!

Experiential, Leslie's Letters, Leslie's Posts, Tua Motus & Society Islands

Leslie’s Letters: Prepping Ron and Michele

May 4, 2017 admin 1 Comment

March 3, 2017

Hello Ron and Michele,

We are getting excited for your visit too. We do have many stories to recount. I wish I had time and energy to write them all down. Alas, what are we doing here in paradise, if we’re always on the computer recording?

Certainly we’re not the best sailors in the world, but we at least have some experience now. We’re especially getting good at reading the weather! It is very uncomfortable to travel in bad weather!

Yes – the end of April and your arrival coinciding with our departure is looming. We are working furiously to get boat repairs and projects accomplished…then we’ll need to reload the boat – Ugh! Not my favorite thing to do as Eric always thinks it’s only going to take a day or two and forgets every time how long it takes to fit everything back into/onto the boat, tie it down, etc.

Anyway – regarding your thoughts about our needs – There will definitely be some boat parts. Eric will either be ordering them and having them shipped to you or Uncle Bill will organize them when he returns and ship them to you. Eric may have you pick some things up at the local West Marine Chandlery. Which one is the most convenient for you? Can you send me their phone number and address…email and contact person?

We will be ordering some things from Amazon prime and shipping them directly to you. You won’t need to really buy much for us. However, the boys absolutely love the hottest, spiciest Cheetos that you can find – those cannot be found here. Mexican tortillas, corn chips, salsa and the like can actually be purchased here in Raiatea along with all the candies a person can imagine – so no need to cart those – we’ll have other things for you to bring for sure.

Regarding your own personal items and clothes. It’s very sunny, hot and muggy here. You’ll want to purchase or bring along a long-sleeved button down Columbia sunblock shirt along with a pair of similar fabric pants: light, stretchy and beige colored – to keep the mosquitos off at night if we happen to be walking around in town. No jeans or heavy cotton fabrics. Colorful T-shirts, a couple bathing suits and stretchy light fabric shorts. You should bring a pair of Teva or Keen closed toed sandals to hike with and wear around town, also a pair of flip flops (they’re expensive here) and maybe a nicer pair of sandals to go out with. Sundress or light sleeveless dress could be good too. I normally wear shorts during the day and tank tops – with a long sleeve shirt nearby in case I spend anytime outside. You’ll also want a good floppy hat – Columbia is the best anti-sun. You’ll want to bring mosquito spray and zinc sunscreen. You can buy or borrow a pareo here – no need to bring. We have all and every medicine you can imagine. Don’t bring shampoo or towels, or bed sheets or pillows – we have all that.

Okay – now for business: health insurance. Eric and I discussed the options regarding the renewal of our International World Health Coverage Plan. We are going to go with Ron’s suggestion to up the deductible and add a sports rider on the boys. We would like to pay for that soon.

As you know, we have been having some great times traveling at large away from Kandu by airplane. You probably know that over the Christmas holiday we visited the north island of New Zealand and spent two weeks with Eric’s brother Curtis in Sydney, Australia. Such great times and then we enjoyed more good times at the end of Jan-early Feb, when we spent two weeks on Easter Island. It had been on my bucket list for years to visit that remote mysterious island. Since we decided not to sail there in 2015, adding 2 months of open water sailing to our itinerary between the Galapagos and the Marquesas, we took a plane instead (only US$450 per plane ticket from Papeete) and stayed in a home run bed and breakfast. The entire experience between studying about and visiting the archeological moai sites all around the island, traveling with dear Marquesan friends Sebastien & Raymonde Falchetto-Ly, and Linda & Chuck Hoolihan from s/v Jacaranda, plus witnessing the Tapati cultural festival events, was extraordinary. I’m not sure if the boys really understand what they’ve witnessed, but someday they will. We splurged spending one morning playing dress-up Rapa Nui style. We hired a woman and her daughter to paint us, dress us, and then photograph us in front of an impressive moai site near the city. We had such a great time posing and mugging for the camera nearly naked, onlookers be darned! On top of all the site-seeing, the boys got to surf almost everyday. For all four of us, it was a top-notch experience. I’m trying to take advantage of our easy and fast internet while staying during this month of February at the Sunset Beach Motel near the boat yard where Kandu is hauled. She is getting a new anti-fouling paint job and we are accomplishing various boat chores that are easier to perform on land. Our boat is terribly torn up inside with all the work being done. It’s impossible to live on right now. So staying in our little bungalow situated right on the lagoon is a real treat. Plus it’s great having Uncle Bill with us helping out. The pressure to get things accomplished is halved with his help.

We’ll be seeing you soon,

Leslie and the Kandu guys

Educational, Leslie's Posts, Tua Motus & Society Islands

Tupa Mascot of Raiatea

May 3, 2017 admin 2 Comments

Skateboard park mural art in downtown Uturoa, Raiatea honoring the Tupa crab.

In Raiatea, the tupa (land crab) is the island mascot. Its image is featured on all the local island and city insignia. Whenever you walk along the waterfront road, these little crabs scramble for cover, hoping to avoid being someone’s dinner. In fact, the edible tupa are revered for their prolific nature, quick to reproduce and prepare for dinner. During years of island famine, tupa provided necessary sustenance for its otherwise starving people.

2017 mural painted on a city hall wall during the graffiti Intl art festival, Uturoa.

Located at a turnaround in the middle of the town Uturoa welcoming drivers to town.

City and island map in downtown Uturoa, Raiatea. Note the crab insignia in the upper left corner.

VIDEO: Tupa crab on the move!

We were invited to a fundraising event on the southwest side of Raiatea. Among the typical Polynesian fare of roasted breadfruit, pulled pork, coconut milk taro and banana poi, they offered the below delicacy. The inside was like a cream soup a la tuna flavor. It really was quite delicious.

Tupa crab bodies cooked and served at a huge fundraising event. Delicious!

These little crabs are harmless and sorta charming. After being in Raiatea for some time, they grow on you. Thus inspired, I drew my own reminder of these silly land crawlers that show enormous bravery under stress when caught outside their dugout holes.

The Rigneys' Great Adventure