Estrellita 5.10b is back in the water.

The boat floats,  The dinghy floats. The engines have sputtered to life.

We are still putting tools and supplies away. We are still working on boat projects, but we are doing so floating at anchor, with the breeze floating through the boat, with afternoon swims, with snorkeling, sunsets and a view. And if the wind cooperates, some kiteboarding.

A week or two of boat work and we start seriously cruising Fiji.

It. Feels. Good.

*As a side note, we’ve changed the commenting procedure to make it easier for anyone to comment on this blog. Give us a test.

Here is Estrellita’s home for the cyclone season, and you may have noticed she isn’t floating in the crystal clear blue waters of the Marshall Islands.

No one is certain (still) whether this year will be an official El Nino year or not, but with the increased west wind anomalies and the elevated risk of typhoon activity in the Marshall’s, the fact that the Marshall’s are atolls (and our own sucky experience with wind from the wrong side in an atoll), we decided to delay heading to the RMI until next year.

We debated staying in Tonga, and were on the waiting list for the keel pits in Fiji, but by mid-October had decided that we would head to New Zealand for the first time. After planning to be in NZ at the end of 2012 we figured it was about time! We had gone so far as sending in our arrival paperwork to NZ, in a 24 hour period we were notified that we had a spot in the keel pits in Fiji if we wanted it and we had a pretty fantastic opportunity to as caretakers as a resort in Tonga.

The decision: Ultimately, we decided to make the passage to Fiji, put Estrellita in the keel pit, prep her for leaving, and fly back to Tonga for some resort time near our favorite kiting location in Vava’u. And so we did…

I’ll write more about the passage, our experience going into a keel pit, what we did to prep the boat, finish up my memories of Tonga by boat, and write about our land travel over the next few months.

The plane plan: We aren’t certain where we will head after Tonga. NZ by plane is a real possibility but we are staying open to other opportunities (anyone have any flight passes from Nadi or Auckland?) but we’ll end up back in Fiji in time to do a month or so of work on the boat and splash in Fiji at the very start of the season to start exploring a new country.

Because the idea of losing steering in a pass in a remote atoll gives me the heebie jeebies, we like to give our steering mechanisms regular love.

We have a steering quadrant and it is relatively easy to keep an eye on those cables. It is a little more difficult, but not too painful, to give the chain from the quadrant to the wheel a visual check and some grease.

First we took off the compass, then a cover plate, and voila this is what our massive chain looks like – like a big bike chain. You can also see the levers for our gear shifter and our throttle.

We cleaned things up and regreased and put things back together – peace of mind (for a while) again. Another tick on the ever present to do list.

Our leather wheel cover had slowly evolved from “weathered” to “salty” to “embarrassing”. Yet, we didn’t replace it until it busted open – good cruisers that we are. I had been keeping my eyes peeled for leather wheel covers in the automotive section of various hardware stores until I saw a simple rope wheel cover on a forum. There are quite elaborate rope work options for covering your wheel but I wasn’t really willing to put more than a day of my life into the project and so simple it was.

I bought 60 meters of 4mm nylon line and ended up with some leftover.

First we stripped off the old leather cover which left bits of itself stuck to the stainless wheel and had to be scrubbed off.

Then I tied the nylon line to one of the spokes and began wrapping. When I reached the next spoke I tucked the line down, half way around the spoke, and then back up onto the wheel, and started wrapping in the opposite direction. Each time I finished a pie wedge, I milked the line tight before transiting the spoke.

Two things I wish I had done at this point were: 1) put the line on a hand spool of some sort, such as you use for handline fishing to make the wrapping easier and 2) not bothered to wet the line when I started and rather just wet it later in the process.

Hours later when I had finished the wheel I tied the two ends together with a square knot and wet the entire wheel. Then I started half way around the wheel from the knot and milked the line toward the knot and retied the line taking up the slack. Then I went back to the half way point and milked the line the other way.

I’m leaving the square knot for now until I milk the line another time or two and then will probably whip the two bitter ends together and then put something decorative over the whipping.

Tip: I set things up so that the knot is at the wheel’s top when the rudder is centered. When I put the decorative bit this will help us find that center by feel.

If you want to haul your boat out in French Polynesia you have to choose between hauling out in Raiatea, Tahiti or Apataki. The first two are in the Society Islands and Apataki is in the Tuamotus.

We chose Apataki Carenage for three main reasons:

• Apataki is less humid than the other two which reduces the mildew problems of a shut up boat.
• Because the motu is private land, in a remote area, theft is not an issue. I’m sure boater-on-boater theft is a possibility as usual but otherwise there is no worries on that front. 
• Apataki is the furthest East and thus a generally lower risk for cyclones (although yes the Tuamotus have been hit).

After arriving we realized that we had other benefits that we hadn’t been expecting.

• We felt like we were still cruising/on an adventure.
• Daily swims in Tuamotu water.
• Green coconuts for drinking.
• Fish BBQs with the family and other cruisers.
• The grocery store in the village (across the atoll) takes credit cards.

We had arrived with a few concerns primarily related to the remoteness. People warned us about hauling out there because they said we wouldn’t be able to get supplies. I think as long as you aren’t planning a 3 day in-and-out haul out with no time to spare, supplies are not any more difficult than most other places. In fact, for English speakers I think Apataki is a good place to be because the family will use their cell phone and make calls for you to track down parts that you need. As for receiving supplies, there are 3 flights a week into Apataki that carry freight and every 2 weeks an interisland freighter arrives (MV Cobia III) which can carry heavy or non-airplane-suitable items such as batteries. Whatever is in Tahiti is accessible in a relatively short time frame from Apataki. In addition, the haul out facility has its own small store with commonly used supplies like grinding disks, paint brushes, bottom paint, epoxy, etc.

One bummer is the lack of internet at the haul out facility. We didn’t care about being out of touch but we didn’t realize the extent to which we have relied on the internet in previous haul outs to solve problems that come up in repairs. The carenage has satellite internet which works, slowly, and not always. In the village they have normal internet and you can arrange to take the boat to the family’s home in the village and use the internet there (while shopping) which is what we did.

Tuamotus Compendium Addition and Correction: The compendium gives a second hand report of a dispute about the bill between a boat and the carenage. Our experience was that the bill was the same as quoted in advance and the family was exquisitely careful to apprise us of any additional costs for things we requested after the initial quote (which was almost identical to the prices on their website). Also, the compendium reports a $30/day liveaboard fee which would have been a deal breaker for us. This is not currently correct and perhaps a language issue. On the bill the carenage lists a daily fee for “vie abord” which means living aboard. However this amount includes the fee for the boat to be on the hard for that day (lay day) and so you must subtract their normal lay day fee from this fee to see the actual living aboard premium. Living aboard increased our lay day fee by 1000 CPF or about $12USD per day.

In sum: If we were leaving our boat in French Polynesia again we would definitely return to Apataki Carenage. If we were hauling out for a short trip we would haul out there as well. If we needed work done on our boat by someone else, we would probably try to avoid hauling out in French Polynesia at all.

There is something very romantic about pulling up to a dock with hand laid stones in the center of a village. We had stopped first on the West side of Raiatea to pick up some supplies from the stores by the two haul out facilities and then moved to the East side of Raiatea to the town of Uturoa.

When we arrived in Uturoa we hadn’t tied a dock for 8 months, since La Paz Mexico in February, with the exception of two hour-long tie ups to fill our water tanks. We haven’t even tied up to any fuel docks in the S Pacific. For one reason or another we always end up schlepping our jerry cans to the station.

If you look at the tree line behind our boat, just to the right of the trees that you see in the photo is a park where people launch their kites. Raiatea had great constant, non-gusty wind when we were there. Unfortunately the launch spot is a bit too sketchy for Livia’s skills (you have to jump off a pile of rocks into the water with your board in your hand) but Carol kited until his abs screamed.

On our first afternoon there we went over the kiting area and asked questions of a local kiter about the entry. As these things seem to happen often, that conversation led to an invitation to a birthday party the next evening and our entree into the kiting gang of Raiatea. A group of really nice people that we’re looking forward to seeing again the next time we pass through. Thanks to everyone.

Raiatea and Tahaa are two islands with a surrounding reef. The reef has joined so that the two islands are inside the same lagoon. They look somewhat like a peanut. We hiked the short but nice hike to the top of a mountain and took some photos. In this one you can see the right middle side of the peanut.

We didn’t anchor out by the lagoon which looks lovely because we were waylaid by kiting and because we spent a week pinned down by mara’amu winds. Note: mara’amu winds are the name of the strong ESE winds caused by a high pressure system (above 1026) traveling below French Polynesia. When people say a mara’amu is coming they mean that a high pressure system is going to accentuate the normal trade winds. How much they are accentuated is, of course, the important part to keep an eye on.

We were starting to get anxious. It was nearly the end of October and with Nov 1 being the official start of the hurricane season, and with an impending haulout still 300 miles from Raiatea, we were wanting to get further East. It was nice to be forced into a week in Raiatea by the winds because we really enjoyed it and we wouldn’t have stayed that long if we had the weather to move on.

We left under power for the Moorea-Tahiti area in light winds and calm seas. Blechity. Motoring.  We had entered in Passe Rautoanui on the West side which was wide and calm and exited on the East side from Passe Teavapiti which, in the light conditions we left in, was flat.

Notes about the dock – the far South side, connected to the small boat basin, is the only place you want to be in E or ESE winds of any strength. The rest of the dock, which has better cleats and wood rather than concrete, is great in light winds but gets bad fetch when the wind comes up. We were told that if you come for a day or two, no fees are assessed but if you camp out too long they come by asking. We were there a week with no problem but a French boat that was essentially trying to live there for free was asked to pay. In high season the demand for the dock might be higher and you might try to free up space because many people come in just to buy groceries at the Champion right across the street. Great place to buy heavy things because you can roll your cart right to your boat.

We still love Bora after a second visit. Overwhelmed by tourists? Yes. But it is also incredibly beautiful and we keep meeting such nice and generous people each time we visit. If you stop in Bora, use the Bora Laverie for your wash and take some time to chat with the owner. We didn’t have much time to play while we were here this visit.

Our plan is to apply for a long stay visa for French Polynesia which must be done in our home country. We leave the boat on the hard in French Polynesia and fly back to Seattle in early December where we will apply for the visa in Vancouver. The visa should allow us to stay in French Polynesia as long as we want, which we currently are guessing is about 1.5 years after our return flight in April. More on that application process after it is completed.

We spent over a week in Bora Bora getting our legs back under us after our passage from the Cook Islands back to French Polynesia. We needed to refill the boat with propane, gas, diesel, water, and fresh food. We also scurried around making reservations, booking tickets and arranging all of the things we needed arranged to leave our boat on the hard and fly out. We had avoided making any of those plans because, as mentioned previously, we weren’t 100% sure we would make it back.

We’re also looking forward to seeing our families and friends and all of the things we’ve missed about N American cities like sitting at coffee shops and going to the movies. Lastly, we’ll buy all of the crap we think we need for the boat and haul it back in our luggage.

I still can’t believe we’ll be visiting in winter.

If you know of any fun events or opportunities, suitable for two cruisers who just bought plane tickets from French Polynesia to SeaTac (that means poor), send us an email (s.v.estrellita@gmail.com). We’ll be in and out of the Seattle-Vancouver area with possible side trips to Quebec and, if we can find miles tickets or similar, Colorado.

HAUL OUT MONDAY

Behold our new removable solent stay (or at least you can see the deck fitting here).

As I understand it, a solent stay is an inner forestay that runs parallel to the forestay and attaches not far behind it on the deck and not far below it on the mast. We had the crew at Blackline do a lot of the work on the mast and this is a good example of their quality. It is strong, simple, works with the existing hardware and looks sharp.

Here we have the double pad-eye on deck for the stay attachment and for the pennant to the tack of the sail.

The padeye is connected with a Spectra lashing below the deck, inside the anchor locker to a second padeye which is through bolted into the existing stemplate on our bow.

We’ll be testing out the new stay, with our recently converted storm jib (from furling to hank on) and I’ll talk about that afterwards as well as showing how the stay looks on deck and how we decide to deal with its stowage when not in use.