Blowin' Bubbles Our Story ~ 2011-2019: May 2016

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Thursday, May 19, 2016

Hiva Oa...

Welcome to our Blog. Our latest entry always comes up first...
Click this link if you want to start at the beginning:
FIRST BLOG ENTRY
If you want to start at the beginning of our trip:
START OF TRIP
If you want to see the story of our trip from South Carolina
(where we bought the boat)
to Lake Ontario Click this link:
SOUTH CAROLINA

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We took the day on Sunday to rest and recover from our adventure. Around noon, the weather cleared enough that we could take a walk and explore a little more of the beautiful Island of Fatu Hiva

Early Monday morning we set sail for Hiva Oa where we officially checked into the country. We had a leisurely 8 hour sail and arrived around mid afternoon. The Anchorage was PACKED! Over 30 boats from nearly as many different countries all packed into the bay where we used our stern anchor for the first time in who knows how long....

On Tuesday morning we were picked up by our agent, Sandra and brought to the Gendarmes (Police) station where we completed the easiest check-in EVER! They simply asked if we had any drugs or other illegal things, then stamped our documents... We are officially here for 3 months.

Hiva Oa

After check-in, we got some local currency then found a grocery store and replenished our fresh fruit and veggies. The one thing they have here every day is beautiful fresh baggets. Everywhere you go, they are available and cheap...

When we returned to the boat, we spent the rest of the day cleaning up and re-organizing. We sent 25 kilos of laundry into town to be cleaned! After a month at sea, there was too much to do on our own.

Yesterday we returned to town and finished our re-provisioning and climbed the mountain to the local cemetery to visit he grave of Paul Gauguin, the famous turn of the century French impressionist painter... Who apparently had a bit of a nasty habit of trying marry 12 year old's...

Jacque Brel (Famous French folk singer)

We also spent a few more hours on the boat getting some repairs done. So far, no luck, but hopefully when we get to Tahiti we can get some things fixed.

Today we decided to treat ourselves to a special day. We left Christina on the boat and went to a small resort for a quiet day together. Only $35 per person (which includes lunch) has given us a chance to relax and spend some time together.

Tomorrow we will head to a small island called Tahuata. It is about 8 miles away. We will clean the bottom of the boat there and get ready for the 4-5 day passage to the Tuamotos where we plan to get some world class diving in...

More soon...

Sunday, May 15, 2016

We Have Arrived! - Fatu HIva

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WE MADE IT!!! At 0241 local time we dropped the hook in "The Bay of Virgins" in Fatu Hiva.

We are scheduled to check in in Hiva Oa at 0800 on Tuesday morning, so will make the 6 hour run from here to there on Monday morning.

Statistically speaking, here is how the trip went:

We left Panama City at 0700 local time (1200z) on Tuesday, April 12 2016. We arrived at Fatu Hiva in the French Marquesas Islands at 0241 local time (1315z). Making the trip almost exactly 32 Days.

We traveled 3970 nautical miles (4568 statute miles, 7352 kilometers) averaging 5.2 knots (6 mph, 9.6 kph).

We ran the engine 86 hours, 76 hours in gear (about 460 miles) or 10% of the distance. Other than to pull into the anchorage in Fatu Hiva, the last time we ran the engine to move the boat forward was on April 22.

On this leg of the trip we have broken:
one engine mount
the roller furler line (fixed)
an ipod
suncover on the Genoa is almost destroyed
one snatch block (kind of repaired)
one of our spinnakers (blown out)
deck wash valve (caused the flood)

I am sure I have forgotten something....

As for fishing, we lost 3 lures and only caught 5 fish and only kept one (a nice tuna).

Yesterday, we spent a few hours cleaning up the boat. In the afternoon, we went for a long walk/hike and felt land under our feet for the first time in over a month...

Last night our good friends from s/v Beach House arrived just after dark, so we hope to get together with them today.

Our plan (at the moment) is to sail to Hiva Oa on Monday morning (tomorrow) and check into the country (officially) at 0800 Tuesday morning. Following our check-in we think we will head to a small island called Tahauta, where we we clean the bottom of the boat and spend a few days.

Here are a few pictures from Just before we left, the trip, a Fatu Hiva... Unfortunately, it loaded them all in no particular order, so bear with us...

A morning visitor...

Day watch...

Our first morning in Fatu Hiva...

Fatu Hiva... Just as Thor Heyerdahl would have seen it in 1936...

Christina... happy to be here!

The village from our boat

Captain Kyle...

A welcoming Tiki...

Amazing mountains!

Just before we left we met Donna Lang. She is a woman who is doing a solo reverse circumnavigation of the world. She ran into some trouble approaching the southern tip of South America and was forced to re-route to Panama City. We helped her a little and became fiends in the process. You can follow her journey by going to her WEB PAGE