Even when it’s shitty, it’s still pretty good.

CB 30 August, 2015
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The first part of July found Me and Tawn in Seattle. I had a job with Danno and so we took the opportunity to visit friends, pick up some boat parts, some new kite boarding gear, and some other bits we needed to bring back to the boat.

Tawn flew back through Hawaii so she could hangout with friends Dave and Jen for a few days and buy a new kite board. I flew back via L.A. and got back a day before Tawn did.

My baggage did not.

Half of all the stuff we bought and stuffed into our luggage was in my checked bag. The one the airline lost! Easily $1000 worth of boat parts and other goodies. Luckily it all showed up on Monday afternoon, but the welcome back to Tahiti was marred just a little.

Since we had a few days to kill waiting for my luggage we spent it putting the boat back together and ready to go cruising again and goofing off around town.

This does not mean the same thing in Tahiti as it does in Seattle. I was a little sad.
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We left Papeete, Tahiti and sailed to the Island of Moorea about 25 miles away. Moorea here we come!
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We were sailing in to Cooks Bay on Moorea island through the pass under headsail alone when the wind completely died. So we rolled up the jib and fired up the engine. That is when shitty reared it’s lumpy brown head.

We’ve had this reoccurring electrical issue that I have been unable to track down. Somewhere in our rat’s nest of an electrical system there is a short. Every now and again, it shows it’s self in the form of a burnt fuse. Which, once blown takes away our ability to charge the batteries with the alternator when the engine is running. Luckily we are in the South Pacific, so we have more than enough sun and wind to keep the batteries charged up.

Historically this issue shows up so infrequently that I sorta don’t give a shit about it. The fix has always been to look at and wiggle some wires, then replace the fuse and it works for another couple months. As a quick aside, if you need an electrician to work on your boat. Hit me up. My rates are reasonable and i’m pretty sure i’d rip you off WAY less than any other “Marine Electrician” you’ll end up hiring.

It is however, officially time to pay the piper. The issue seems to be permanent. As soon as I turn on the ignition, the fuse blows. No matter how vigorously I wiggle wires.

So we spent two days chasing and replacing wires and connections. Good news is I found two corroded wires and replaced them. Bad news is, there is at a minimum one more bad wire somewhere and I have not found it yet.

Honestly though this is not a bad place to work on your boat.
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But the sun was shining and there was miles of coral reef to snorkel. So we said fuck it! Jury rigged it so we can at least start the engine and we’ll fix it properly when we haul the boat in Tonga in a couple months.

Right now the patch is to just start it, let it burn up the fuse and carry on. At this point in the story i’d like to take the time to apologize to the good people of Papeete, Tahiti and a couple small towns on Moorea. I’m pretty sure we bought all the 30 amp fuses on those two islands…..sorry if you needed some.

I bet if you made an offer this beauty it could be yours.
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Anyway, here are some pictures of awesomeness that we are experiencing instead of fixing stupid wiring issues.

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Ali Beth, the shorts you bought me give me awesome balancing powers.
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And of course we can always find the bar for sunset drinks!

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Posted in Big trips, Palarran | 1 Comment

Where are we? What have we been doing?

Tawn 11 August, 2015
[1] comment

In the case you do not know us, we have been back in the states for about a month. CB got an opportunity to do a quick job out in Montana and I had to travel as well or my visa would have run out before he returned. So on July 10th CB flew out to Seattle and on the 11th I flew out to Hawaii to visit friends I had not seen for 5 years…thanks for the hospitality Dave & Jen. I stayed in Hawaii about a week then headed to Seattle on some travel passes a friend gave me…thanks again! A quick trip to Chicago was also managed to see family and my cousins new baby…u are a cutie Clay😄 After I returned to Seattle both CB and I were able to catch up with friends and spend time on more boats. We do miss the PNW, but are ready to return home to the boat for more adventures.

One change in plans is that we are not going to New Zeland this year. Instead we are going to haul the boat out in the Vava’u group in Tonga. The boat will spend the cyclone season hanging out in a custom cradle with 8 tie down points to cement. It is also stored in a quarry with 3 high sides. Feeling pretty secure about that and our insurance is happy. We will be looking for a place to stay locally near the boat…maybe some housesitting! We plan on just hanging out in Tonga and doing a lot of kite surfing during the cyclone season. Then in April or May we will head off for another season of cruising in Tonga and Fiji. This area is too amazing to cover in one cruising season. We are lucky enough to be able to spend one more season out there before heading back to work hopefully in NZ.

In the meantime, here are some rage inducing photos of what we have been seeing and doing in the past few months.

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This is at a mother’s day feast we were invited to. These guys are professional Marquesian dancers who compete yearly in Papeete. They are bad asses and really get into it. Probably one of my most favorite photos.

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This is supposedly one of the largest waterfalls in the world, dropping 900 feet into the valley. Trail access through Daniel’s Bay on Nuka Hiva island.

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We hiked about an hour and then had to swim up through these caves to get to the actual waterfall. Since it had been raining for a week, the falls were raging and it was so windy from the water rushing down that we could barely open our eyes and didn’t get any photos of the actual falls.

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Beautiful Catholic Church on Tahuata Island.

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Daniel’s Bay on Nuka Hiva. A local lady living near this beach invited us in for kai kai (a meal). She served wild goat in coconut milk, rice and a bunch of delicious veggies and fruit.

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The awe inspiring spires above Ua Pou, our last stop in the Marquesas. This was probably our favorite spot in the Marquesian islands.

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Palarran anchored outside the village in Makemo Atoll.

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Beach fire with the crew of Peregrine on an unmarked spot on Makemo Atoll.

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South Fakarava paradise…favorite place EVER!

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I DECLARE THIS ISLAND MINE!

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The shades of blue here are amazing. The water is so clear you can’t tell the difference between 60 feet and 6 feet.

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Everyone has been asking what we do all day…well there is a lot of this…

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Cool shit we saw in the Galapagos Islands

Tawn 6 July, 2015
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I’m gonna let this be a photo blog solamente.

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I had the early morning watch as we came into the Galapagos Islands. This is Kicker Rock. We would later do my favorite dive of the trip there.

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Isla San Cristobal is thick with Sea Lions. They make themselves at home on any dock, beach, swim step or dinghy.

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There are tons of weird looking lizards here…the black lava lizards actually surf! I name this little guy Eddie….Eddie Lizzard.

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Boobies!! Haha made u look….it is a blue footed booby…the bird people😲

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Darwin is all over this place….fun fact….Charles Darwin…the living legend of evolution….only spent 5 weeks in the Galapagos islands!

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There are crystal clear bays all over this place. We swam here and young sea lions came up and played with us.


I swam with these guys near the boat. The one is playing with an egg that got chucked overboard….never broke it, just held it gently in it’s mouth tossing it to his buddies.

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We went to a turtle reserve and nursery on Isla San Cristobal. They bred the turtles and hatched the eggs. Turtles from new borns on to 100 years are found here. They start in a nursery and are kept in protective cages until they are old enough to not be eaten by predators. We may have gotten to close to this guy, but the guide kept telling us to get closer! I love these guys, look at the cute little guys tongue in the close up….but as you can clearly see, CB is wary….he’s thinking “that is not a dog”

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CB and Robbie holding up the bar on Isla San Crystobal….the beers here are huge!

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Apparently there is a version of volleyball played in Equador that exists nowhere else in the world. When they play they catch the ball and then toss it back over the net…only briefly….but there is definitely a catch. And they are very serious about this game. Maybe the fact that they are playing with a soccerball has something to do with it….ouch!

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The whole town showed up to watch these bozos yell and scream at each other….their own team mates. I am not sure what was being said….but even when they won the point arguing took place.

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This guy was the angriest and started all the shit talking…he is abbout 4 1/2 feet tall…always the little guys😊

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Everyone got into it….even this little girl. She stole the ball, maybe she got sick of all the arguing and wanted to end the game😄

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In Santa Cruz, the biggest town, there is a eating street. At night the road is lined with food vendors. They all basically sell the same thing, so there is a mad rush to get your business as you walk by each place. The center of the road is full of tables and chairs and everyone eats family style. It was the cheapest and best place to eat. CB and I each got a lobster and big beers for 12$ each!

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Santa Cruz had a fresh fish market where you could buy fish straight off the boat. The market is right on the wharf and the women cleaning and selling fish spend most their time shooing off the Pelicans and the sea lions….who are slippin’ and slidin’ around under their feet.

We also visited Isla Isabella which was our favorite island. Less people and tour boats and the town still had that undeveloped feel. Dirt roads were still the norm. Isabella is worth a post of it’s own and once we get the videos edited we will put up the goods.

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//WL2K Fakarava Atoll

4ssb 25 June, 2015
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Not so long ago, most boats/cruisers avoided the Tuamotu’s. They were called the dangerous islands (or something like that). All reefs, not very well charted and most of them you cannot see until you are just few miles away in the daylight, at night you would not see them at all. The charts of the area nowadays are a lot better and GPS makes it that much more easier. The passes into the atolls are not so easy. The majority of these passes are only safely traversed at or near slack water (that short period of time between low and high tide). Unfortunately there is not a good source (that we have found) for when slack water actually is in these passes, and even if there was, there are so many different variables for each atoll and the weather at the time that those would be inaccurate anyway. We have developed a technique however. And should you find yourself in the Tuamotu’s feel free to use it. The technique. We find the closest island on our charts with a tide table and use that time as a very rough guess. We then send an email to our land based shore operation headquarters/weather router (L.B.S.O.HQ/WR for short). He internets for us and replies to us with the times for slack water, which are just as inaccurate as what we come up with(Seriously though, thank you Eric). We take both of these times, average them and subtract a half hour. At the appointed time, we then wait another 20-25 minutes then slowly approach the atoll and watch the current in the pass. If it looks relatively safe we proceed. Otherwise we wait. Yep….it’s just that scientific. The first atoll we stopped at after leaving the Marquesas was Makemo. We arrived there late in the afternoon, about an hour after slack water, which meant we could not get in that night. We hove-to about 5 miles off the reef/atoll until sun up and for the next tide change. Heaving to in the open ocean is very mellow. Once the boat is setup and the sails are set correctly. Everything flattens out (relatively). We made dinner, watched a couple movies and chilled. All went well in the pass and once inside the atoll the water changes from open ocean conditions to almost flat calm, lake like conditions. We are currently at our second atoll, Fakarava. To use the term “Island paradise” would be a substantial understatement. I cannot really begin to describe it, and since I am posting this via Ham radio I cannot upload any pictures. So hit CTRL, T and google for a bit. That will have to tide you over till we get to Tahiti and get some solid internet. We have been anchored here in the south end of Fakarava for a little over a week now. We don’t really wanna leave but there are other places to see. We’ve spent most of our time snorkling, diving, kite boarding (trying) and exploring the motos. A few nights ago me and 3 other guys from a couple other boats decided to go lobstering. We waited till after sunset and dinghied out to the reef to catch some lobster. It’s not too hard once you spot one, which is hard. Once spotted, you blind him with your flashlight and grab him with your other hand from behind. You gotta be fast and they are crazy strong for their size. If you still happen to have that other tab open take a look at a picture of the southern tip of the atoll. Or better yet, go to Google Maps and drop these coordinates in there; Dinghy anchor spot 16 32’08.4 S 145 28’18.9 W Turn around 16 32’57.2 S 145 29’54.2 W Not that far apart. Straight line about 2 miles. Keep that in mind and let me paint you a picture. It’s 8pm. The Sun has been down for 2+ hours and the moon is about to set. It is dark. We anchor the dinghies and tie a small flash light to a palm tree so we can find our spot on the return. With headlamps and hand held flashlights we walked out to the edge of the reef in water that ranged from ankle to thigh deep. The terrain, a murderous combination of lava rock and coral reef. At the reef’s edge the swell and waves from the ocean are slamming into the reef about 20 feet away. It was low tide, so most of the waves would slam into the reef and die away after crashing into the reef. Every few minutes or so a big set of waves would roll through which would break over the reef and sweep toward us. Falling down is NOT an option. Remember that murderous terrain we are walking on? Falling down turns that into a human cheese grater. That two miles we walked took us 3.5 hours but we managed to catch 25 or so lobsters. We now had to get back, but the tide was rising so we could not safely………(excuse me, bahahahhahhaha…)..ahem…walk the outer reef so we went into slightly shallower water for the return. As an added bonus I was carrying a mesh bag with most of the lobsters in it. That basically made me a walking chum bucket. I had to turn around every so often and kick at the reef sharks that were following right behind me to keep them from going after the lobsters we had caught. I kept telling myself they were going after the lobsters…… “Self”, I would say. “They are only going after the lobsters.” The walk back only took 2 hours and at 2am I was safely tucked into my bunk, swearing to never do that shit again. The next day we had a beach bonfire and grilled up the catch making all the trouble of the night before worth it and of course talking about the next time we should go.

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