Jeez, guys… it’s been a while! We’ve been in a rut recently, but we’re feeling optimistic now that our time in French Polynesia has come to an end. We’ve spoken about our struggles in past videos/blog posts and have been even more honest in our Crew/VIP Only posts, but to summarize our time here, it has been more challenging than fun. We’re tired. Now that cyclone season is over, we are eager to move along! We thought we’d kick things off by bringing back our daily blog posts for our ~7-10-day passage from Bora Bora to Tonga. So without further adieu…
We were cutting it close—checking out of the country the day our visas expired. I thought the three weeks I had scheduled between our insurance’s cyclone season restriction end date and our visa expiration would be plenty; who would’ve thought it would take 25 days for a weather window to come along? Outrageous! At one point, we figured we had to be being misled, so we hired a second weather router and reached out to a friend who is a meteorologist for a second and third opinion. They all agreed it was in our best interest to stay put. So, we made the most of our time, tackling some boat projects and exploring the beautiful island we’d found ourselves “stuck” at. 😉
We finally set sail this morning, ditching our mooring ball and exiting the pass around 8:30AM. We hoisted the sails and turned off the engines shortly thereafter.
We had our mainsail at the first reef, and our jib on a barber hauler. The seas were rolly, but as we settled onto our course, they were mostly at our stern/aft starboard quarter, pushing us in the right direction. It felt so good to be on the move again.
By lunchtime, the wave height had doubled. Between the heat and the boat’s motion, I got a little dizzy while cooking in the galley, so I spent the next few hours at the helm: the best place to prevent sea sickness. I kept my eye on a couple of squalls that had formed on the horizon while Sabado surfed onward. We’re starting on a North path to avoid a cold front to the South. The plan is to jibe on Tuesday/Wednesday.
We’ve read a few too many reports recently of boat troubles in the South Pacific. A catamaran had an escape hatch fail and tragically sank in the Marquesas; all passengers were rescued after drifting for seven hours on an inflatable paddle board. They are now trying to get their passports replaced to organize a return to their home country. Another catamaran was dismasted, and both engines failed. Passengers were rescued by a nearby cruise ship. Our hearts go out to both vessels and their crew. Events like this always prompt lengthy discussions between Ray and me about what we’d do in such an emergency. It’s easy for us to get complacent living on the boat year-round but rest assured, we are taking every safety precaution possible for this passage. Ray took the helm around 3pm, and I napped beside the ditch bag in our cockpit.
We had an early dinner because I prefer to do the dishes in the daylight when we’re underway. This saucy braised chicken taco recipe is my go-to for passages. I prepped a double batch of the meat ahead of time, and we‘ll use half for tacos and half for chicken chili tomorrow. The sun is setting as I’m posting this, so I’ll leave you with this beautiful view to conclude Day 1 of our passage from French Polynesia to Tonga.
Fingers crossed tonight is uneventful. See ya tomorrow!
10 Responses
Hi Sabado, best of luck for the passage.I will check in every day to see conditions.
We are currently in Fakarava and will head down to Tahiti in the next week or so. Our goal will be to rent a car for a couple of days to explore Tahiti, do some provisioning and generally hang out, maybe go to Morea. We have family coming on June 27th for 10 days when we will head down to Bora Bora where they will fly out of.
SO we have some time to kill in Tahiti and Morea, dont think we want to go further because we will have to be back in Tahiti for June 25th or so for their arrival, get a car again and provision for the guests – heavy wine drinkers.
Given your vast experience in this part of the world my question is what advice do you have for to make a success of the above. We will mostly want to be at anchor or mooring ball if necessary. Our only time in a marina will possible be as the guests arrive if that is even possible and what marina do you suggest. Once or guest leave on July 7th we will immediatley look to leave for Tonga.
Really looking forward to you advice. Thanks Fred
Hi, Fred! So great to hear from you. We hope you’re getting some good diving/snorkeling in the Tuamotus! Tahiti can be tough— the marinas do not take reservations. Some people have no problem with availability on arrival, while others walk the docks first and arrange spot swaps/motor outside, waiting for someone to leave. We never stayed at a marina, so I don’t have any first-hand advice for you there. The approved anchorages in Tahiti can be crowded and dodgy in bad weather. We’ve often anchored in Point Venus to avoid them, but I believe that is now not allowed. I’m not sure if that’s being enforced, but it might be worth looking into. PV has a nice park, lighthouse, restaurant, beautiful black sand beach, and is a ~45-minute taxi from the airport.
In the right conditions, anchoring out by the reef in Moorea is incredible, with the option of tucking into Cooks Bay for protection/groceries. There is a fast ferry between Tahiti and Moorea multiple times a day, which could be a good option for your guests if you can’t sort something out in Tahiti. Moorea is beautiful, and there’s lots to do: good snorkeling and hiking. We didn’t get the chance to do it, but there’s a local cooking class and excursions through the pineapple fields to the distillery and juice factory, etc. We loved hanging out in Moorea!
PS- there’s a nice wine shop in Bora Bora called Bobcat- a short walk from the town dinghy dock. We also had some nice wine at the restaurant at Cooks Bay Hotel in Moorea (lovely food there too, great spot to bring guests).
congrats on being on the move! we are tracking you and sending lots of love!
We love and miss you!!
💙
Hi Holly thanks a million for getting back so quickly – we will definitely check out everything you suggested. Save sailing Fred
Of course, thank you for your continued support! We hope you have fun with your guests. 🙂
The unwavering voyages Holly Hendricks and her partner, Sabado are undertaking across the globe are overwhelmingly breathtaking, with the blue oceans, the atmosphere that subsides the hurricanes, and lastly, the well executed photography pictures that are endearingly impressive.
Thank you! ❤️