Shiptrak has been giving me problems so I have changed the link on our blog for “Our Route Thus Far” to this amazingly sophisticated version:

I (Livia) recently joined the ranks of the tweeners. To mark this occasion, Carol and I spent a few days on our own in the bay of Onemea on Taravai.

Carol made crepes for breakfast, we picnicked on the beach for lunch, and with dinner, thanks to Robbie H, we were able to afford a great bottle of wine.

It was a birthday to go down in the memory books and a huge thank you for making it special. The sunset that we toasted it to was nothing short of spectacular – directly into the ocean over the encircling reef of Mangareva.

We haven’t had access to good inexpensive wine for years now and that means we don’t get to have good wine very often. This was a real treat for us.

Thank you, thank you Robbie H!

It’s been way too long since we’ve had fishing photos on this blog.

Carol speared a fish with a simple pole spear last year but this year we have a borrowed spear gun aboard and he has become a fish slaying machine.

We only kill what we can eat (of course) and we have a wee freezer (remember the freezer in a dorm room fridge? not far off.) so we are careful about what we take. There is a type of fish poisoning in this area and so you have to check carefully with locals to find out island-by-island what is safe to eat. Sometimes one fish is safe on the North side of an island but bad on the South side and sometimes the locals make their own mistakes as previously safe fish becomes poisonous over time.

With that in mind, we’ve been happily hunting. And I say we, because I have recently joined the ranks of women who spear fish. Woohoo!!

Having had more free diving practice this year I was excited to try loading and shooting the spear gun and even more excited when my first shot garnered a perfect eating-sized marbled grouper just off of our boat. We cooked it immediately on the beach over a coconut husk fire and the thrill of the kill made it more delicious.

I’m interested in trying more hunting although only in areas where the sharks are less frisky. Our friends spear even in the sharky areas and I’m definitely not ready for that.

Carol speared his first fish in Mopelia. He has a Hawaiian sling not a spear gun which makes the hunt more difficult or more sporting depending on how you look at it. I think in hindsight we might have bought a spear gun.

Looking at these pictures I still can’t get over the color of water – no photoshopping on these, just the brilliant blue of the water on a sunny day in Mopelia.

Carol went out with Edgar and although he didn’t spear anything with Edgar he must have learned something because he speared a gorgeous Trevally a few days later.

While we were in Mopelia Edgar was fitting his motorboat with a sail. Without a keel he couldn’t make his way upwind but he could save gas by sailing at least one direction when he went fishing. He stopped by and picked up Carol and they swam to a nearby reef with the boat in tow.

On the ocean in four separate countries, over the course of 21 months, I have spent many days, shed not a few tears and swallowed my fair share of salt water in order to learn to ride back and forth on a kiteboard.

Kiting was not easy for me to learn and I have never struggled so hard and persevered for so long just to master the most basic of skills in a sport. I have learned and enjoyed sports that I initially feared (climbing and heights) and even though kiting was a bit frightening at first I didn’t expect to struggle with my fear for so long. I have learned physical activities that I had absolutely no background in (swing dancing) and so I didn’t expect my lack of board sports background to pose such a challenge.

In short, I didn’t expect to spend so long sucking. Just being able to ride back and forth, stay upwind, and make 50% of my turns is a sweet, long sought after thrill.

Kiting is one of those sports where you can spend a long time in the learning process without actually “doing it”. First you learn to fly the kite on the beach. Then you take the kite in the water and let it drag your body around. Then you take the board and the kite into the water and use the power of the kite to come out of the water and ride across the top of it. Until I was able to ride back and forth, I didn’t feel like I was actually kiteboarding or that I was a real kiteboarder.

A friend was joking that Carol and I were “rad” kiteboarders and I explained that although you might call me “brave” or “persistent”, I certainly hadn’t reached “rad” yet.

In other sports, you may suck, but at least you are actually engaging in the sport from the start. When I learned to climb, I could climb easy routes on the first day. The first day that I tried snowboarding, although I sucked, I was at least standing on top of the board (mostly) and sliding down a mountain. Even though I was not good, I was doing it. I first flew a kiteboarding kite in Bahrain in 2010. I didn’t kite again until July 2011 when I took lessons in San Francisco. I didn’t learn to stand up on the kiteboard until my third country, Mexico, where I spent several days a week for three weeks trying to do so. I wasn’t able to ride back and forth consistently until Bora Bora despite a week on the water in the Tuamotus and I just learned to stay upwind in Maupiti.

Why did I push through and stick with it? Even early on when I was afraid, I had glimpses of  the thrill of it and I knew how much I would enjoy it after it clicked. Particularly now when we are gliding across clear water, startling sting rays underneath our boards, and I have enough extra brain cells to ride, fly the kite AND watch the stunning scenery pass by. Plus, I need a sport I can do with the boat, with my husband who has been my activity partner since we met, and which gives me that wonderful exhausted, soaked in the outdoors feeling.

I need another week on the water and then I plan to start eating salt water on a daily basis again…but this time because I’m learning how to jump. ((Our kite beach, near our boat, below))

A big kudos to my fantastic husband who has spent this entire learning process as my “support and gear” team, doing whatever he could possibly do to make it possible for me to focus on learning to ride. He took over gear prep, gear put away, rescued me numerous times in the dinghy when I drifted too far away, and generally is the reason I was able to keep at it for long enough to get it.

In the flow of this cruising season, somehow we missed our two years of cruising anniversary in mid-June. Considering our penchant for celebrating any conceivable event, difficult to believe we missed it!

We are also coming up on one year since we left Tofino – a big event for us heading South finally.

In other anniversary news, happy 5 year wedding anniversary to the best husband in the world – pictured here taking me out on the town in Bora Bora.

These are mostly from our trip down the outside – documenting how the temperature and water gradually changed as we headed from Tofino to Cabo San Lucas.

First kiteboarding (in wetsuits): San Francisco (California)

First place Carol dove off of the boat before coffee: Catalina Island (California)

First foreign port:  Ensenada, Mexico. Because Livia is American, the US doesn’t count.

First sail off and onto anchor: From one side of the bay in San Quintin (Pacific side of Baja) to the other (hey – it counts). We’ve sailed off before and sailed on before, but never both in one run.

First “tropical” fish catch: Bonito – on passage to Bahia Tortugas (Pacific side of Baja)

Livia threw away her tattered fleece lined mittens: Bahia Tortugas

First passage where Livia did not wear a hat on night watch: On passage to Bahia Santa Maria (Pacific side of Baja)

First Dorado (a.k.a. Mahi Mahi): On passage to Bahia Santa Maria

First shirtless/bikini sailing day: On passage to Cabo San Lucas (Southern tip of Baja)

First time we thought “holy crap we need to finish installing those extra fans”: On passage to Cabo San Lucas

First place where we kayaked to a snorkel spot and snorkeled: Cabo San Lucas

Livia’s first free dive attempts: Cabo San Lucas

First margaritas at a beach bar (which we kayaked to): Cabo San Lucas

First time we realized that WE are that boat anchored in front of the tropical vacation spot: Cabo San Lucas