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Josi and Shaun cross the Pacific

Cucu Belle

Saturday, 23 July 2011

Preparing for the journey

A picture says a thousand words...

Posted by GOOSEBUMPS at 15:29

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Blog Archive

▼ 2011 (2)
- ▼ July (2)
  - The Route
  - Preparing for the journey

28 September 2011 Voyage to Bora Bora

Bora Bora by air - Ria took this photo as they flew over on their arrival, the day earlier. Just stunning!

28 September 2011 Voyage to Bora Bora

Even though we can see our destination, it still takes hours to get there :)

28 September 2011 Voyage to Bora Bora

Hello Bora Bora!

28 September 2011 Voyage to Bora Bora

Sunrise

27 September 2011 The Voyage to Bora Bora

Sunset

27 September 2011 The Voyage to Bora Bora

soooooooo sexy

27 September 2011 The Voyage to Bora Bora

Captain Shauny

Steak Dinner!

She's a beauty!

Trophy Photo!

Good job Greg!

Goodbye Rangiroa

Hello fishing!

Goodbye Rangiroa

And we're off! Good helping Scotty! :)

Bora Bora!

Not missing any opportunity for sailing of some variety dad found another toy to play with :)

Bora Bora!

Dad and Ria flew to Bora Bora, generously offering us some much needed extra space on the boat for a few days.

26 September 2011 The other side of the atol

The ladies go pearl shopping!

26 September 2011 The other side of the atol

The men take care of preparations for the trip to Boro Bora.

26 September 2011 The other side of the atol

26 September 2011 The other side of the atoll

Special Treat!

Ben and Jerry's in the middle of the great Pacific Ocean! Thanks guys! My favourite!

Throw another shrimp on the barbi!

Family dinner

Another stunning sunset

Clouds on horizon, so no green flash.

Local Life

Coconuts are cracked open, dried out and then taken to Tahiti where they are compressed to extract the oil, which is than sold, not so cheaply, as hair and skin products. Smells pretty good and works well too :)

Local life

How's the serenity!

Local Life

Homework time/ mini dvd player?... anything is possible with a satellite dish in every yard :)

Local Life

Fish market?

Local life

Time to explore, and stretch the land lubber legs.

Lunch in Rangiroa

Sushi! Fresh our of the channel! Prepared by sushi pros dad and Ria. Yum!

Inside the Atoll

Quick, look busy! Captain, as always, taking great care of his crew! :)

Inside the Atoll

Time to relax after a hard days work

Rangiroa Channel

Good job Greg! Job fish drive through :)

Rangiroa Channel

then it's the best spot ever!

Rangiroa Channel

...unless you like fishing of course!...

Rangiroa Channel

...and then not so nice once in the middle :)

Rangiroa Channel

a little rougher from closer...

Rangiroa Channel

Nice from far...

Quaint Rangiroa

Very serene looking channel...

24 September 2011 Hello Rangiroa

The Trophy Photo!

Well done Pete! This fish was frozen and later eaten in many delicious ways! Nothing wasted :)

The Gory Bit

The Mahi Mahi is a beautiful fish, but seconds after it dies the bright yellow drains from its body.

Mahi Mahi

Ria took this amazing shot! You can even see the pink lure hanging out it's mouth. Brilliant job Ria!

More Fishing!

Fish on and it's Pete on the Rod!

Off to Rangiroa

And we know that that means....

The Rudder

Job done! After many hours and lots of effort and sanding, the rudder fits! It's completely ruined! But it fits and we are good to go! Well done!

Local Shopping Bags

No jokes, Ria went shopping for fruit and veggies and this is what they were packed in :)

23 September Somebody's birthday!

surprise :) happy birthday dad! thanks for spending it with us on cucu belle

The Rudder

The new rudder arrived the same day as the furler, so more work to do. Unfortunately, despite all the efforts and energy organising and flying the rudder to middle of nowhere, it didn't fit! Se l vie :) So Shaun and Greg got on the tools again and made a few modifications :)

The Furler

Not a one man job either, everyone got involved and had it sorted, well done men! What? Someone has to take the photographs :)

The Furler

Not a simple job

The Furler

22 September Back to North Fakarava - and back to Work!

The furler arrived, so ... code zero furling time time! what a mission that was!

Wahooo!!! ... or not!

Funny story~ So the reason the sharks were circling the stern, was because Shaun had caught his first wahoo and he was gutting it! Very exciting! We all posed for photos! There was a bit of debate over this fish...a Wahoo is rated as one of the tastiest fish in the ocean! Dad was not interested. Having caught wahoo heaps of times and eaten them in fish cakes, as they tasted so bad, he couldn't understand the excitement of the Carroll's when Shaun landed this monster "wahoo"! Turns out this was a Giant Barracuda! So not only had we taken photos and got all excited about it, and then had to throw it back :( (especially annoying since Ria sliced her hand while skinning it :() but all too funny is that dad and Ria had been eating gian barracuda on the Water Dragon, thinking the whole time, "what is the big deal about this Wahoo!' :) Learn something new everyday :) We never caught a wahoo on this adventure :( Howeve, Shaun and I took dad and Ria to this remote fishing paradise called seven spirit bay for his 60th birthday where they caught (amongst eskis filled of other fish) a spanish mackerel, and it was delicious!!!

Back at the boat

The guys had some shark sightings of their own...

22 September 2011 Are you for Scuba

This dive we walk out at the dive store and come out through this amazing coral garden, with 15 - 20 little sharks swimming around and around. Beautiful! One of the most amazing places I've ever seen.

22 September 2011 Are you for Scuba

So many fishies!

22 September 2011 Are you for Scuba

Coral Trout - Shaun's favourite fish to eat :)

22 September 2011 Are you for Scuba

Bubbles! Bubbles! My bubbles!

22 September 2011 Are you for Scuba

Shhhhyyyaaahhkkk! This was one of the most amazing shark dives! There were hundreds of them, and we watched from a ledge as they swam through the channel, 10 sharks wide and 4 sharks high, then when they were at the end of the channel, they'd turn around and go to the back of the queue and do it all over again and again...all lined up like planes coming in to Heathrow...if ten planes could land at heathrow at once. So many sharks, all below us and not worried about us at all. Thrillingly calming :)

22 September 2011 Are you for Scuba

Diamond Travelli

22 September 2011 Are you for Scuba?

Under the sea - definitely one of the very few places I can relax!

Then we went Fishing

Caught a few travelli and a shark and a huge flute nose.

Then we went Fishing

Back to Boat

Pictures taken on the swim

Back to Boat

Pictures taken on the swim

Back to Boat

Pictures taken on the swim

Pink Beach

Tropical paradise

Back to the boat

Another happy swimmer :)

Back to the boat

Some of us swam :)

Pink Beach

View from the pink beach

21 Sept 2011 The Pink Beach

...and we found this - puzzling! This is even more eerie now that we heard a German tourist went hunting with a local, and all that remains of him is his skull and bones on a pile of ashes - this was in the Marqesas though...which has a history of cannibalism, but not sure this is what went down here...still, it's interesting :)

21 Sept 2011 The Pink Beach

We found this lump of shells all in the same place, weird, interesting, beautiful.

21 Sept 2011 The Pink Beach

We went for a walk around the island...which took all of 2 minutes :)

21 Sept 2011 The Pink Beach

Bags packed and off to the pink beach!

21 Sept 2011 The Pink Beach

The sand is supposed to be pink, if you were drunk it probably would be. Still, this is such a magical spot!

20 Sept 2011 South Pass Fakarava

Prime real estate, beach front property, only 24 hours by plane and then an hour boat ride to get here...eqsy commute :)

20th Sep 2011 Fishing...

Pete and his barracuda! Two barracudas caught and released, and a job fish caught and vacuum sealed...not the best fishing day :(

20th Sep - Reef On!

Tired dad? Not sure you're going to get this one to the boat :) - after a long struggle with the fish, it swam to the bottom, had a moment of reduced tension and spat out the hook, which snagged the reef. No luck today dad, maybe next time :)

20th Sep Fakarava on the way to the south pass

Fish on!

20th Sep 2011 The Carroll Boys

When I said I wanted a house full of Carole Boyes, this isn't exactly what I had in mind :) But I like this a lot more! :) I love this photo! :)

20 Sep 2011 Sharky

Sharky swimming passed jetty while we're waiting for the boys to collect us - big!

20 Sep 2011 Pearl Farming

Then the pearls get hung on strings and protected by crates, so the fish don't eat away the shells. The oyster stay there for years. They have to have a minimum of 0.8mm to be sold legally and this takes a few years. The 16 to 19mm pearls take 10 to 12 years...and you only find out when they've been harvested, the shape, luster, color and smoothness ( no. of imperfections).

20 Sep 2011 Pearl Farming

Then the technician inserts the yellow orbs, which are an organic material from animals found in the Mississippi river. To gather with this orb they insert a piece of shell from a different oyster. The color of the shell from the different oyster determines the color of the pearl created in the oyster in front of the technician.

20 Sep 2011 Pearl Farming

First they wedge open the oyster shell...

20th Sep 2011 Pearl Farm for the ladies

20th Sep 2011 Admin for the boys

How many Australians does it take to fix the braai?

19th Sep 2011 Fakarava North Pass Dive

Pretty :)

19th Sep 2011 Fakarava North Pass Dive

Hungry trigger fish

19th Sep 2011 Fakarava North Pass Dive

Angel Fish - so hard to get photos of these guys...they are usually to quick and by the time I press the button they have disappeared and I have an empty photo :(, sp pretty chuffed with this one :)

19th Sep 2011 Fakarava North Pass Dive

Luminous Coral

19th Sep 2011 Fakarava North Pass Dive

Scorpion fish - sneaky sneaky

19th Sep 2011 Scuba Dive

North Passe in Fakarava, we did two dives, this was the drift dive. So many fish! The first dive was just as amazing. Ria was with us for the first dive, but unfortunately Ria hurt her ears descending on this dive. That was a luck in our favour, as the boat guys weren't paying attention, and we were stuck in these huge waves in the middle of the pass, bobbing around with no air in our tanks and hardly able to swim against the current for about 15min - not cool!

19 Sept Local life

The locals catch garfish (I have a good photo of one later on in the coral garden) and eat them like sardines I guess...but to catch them they throw breadcrumbs in the water so an entire school of garfish swim for the bread, and then he throws in the hook, and one unlucky garfish mistakes the hook for bread and gets caught and added to the bucket. Unbelievably, I just this happen on a much larger scale on tv, where this guy is in the ocean in a little fishing boat, his mate throws in some little chopped up fishies, and he throws in a hook with a lure and pulls out a massive 50KG TUNA! And he had like 5 of these tunas in his dinky little fishing boat! Tricky tricky :)

19 Sep 2011 - TAG - In with the Carrolls and Mr Blaxton

They arrived last night, and the water was too rough to collect them in the dinghy so we had a few derricks at a hotel who offered to collect them from the airport in their car, and then we had to negotiate the shorter drive from the hotel to the boat in the dark, with all their luggage :) fun :)

Local Life

Yip, that is a purple house :) They love their colors in the tuomotus. In Fakarava there were some divine places... One house on the land side of the road had, just across the road on the water side, built a deck complete with roof and outside table and chairs, next to where they haul their boat out of the water, and that's where they hangout and chill in the arvos... how good

The restaurant

Happy travelers! Yes, we ate here often :) ... and now that I think about it, it's probably the first restaurant we had seen since the Marqesas, I think??? So quite a luxury!

The Restaurant

My mouth starts watering when I reminisce about this place - fish tartar, beef carpaccio- this woman cook could do no wrong :)

The restaurant

Dinghy eye-view.

The restaurant

The boys arrive by dinghy and get a front row parking. Despite the gloomy looking clouds; the weather here is magic! Just too divine...never too hot never too cold, goldilocksly 'just right' all day and night!

Restaurant!

Back in the land of restaurants :) This one was an absolute surprise treat... the views are divine, and the food too delicious! What a find!

Pretty

Beautiful clear blue water and pink coral beneath...

The blue view

...and then we found this for a quick drink..

how beautiful is this view!

so off we go on the hunt for wifi and forage for food

this place is just too picture perfect...while I scroll through my thousands of photos to select a few for the blog, the blues are just too gorgeous!

..and cute at the same time

He was oh so quiet, we almost missed him, but he kept an eye on every move we made :)

They did have an interesting guard animal, though

This guy was huge!

Lunch with a view

We pulled into a spot which looked like a great on the water restaurant, apparently not...evertyhing left wide open, but not a soul in sight.

Ria enjoys filleting fish...

...but before she has had a chance to get through filleting Shaun's fish, the next fishing line goes...dad is up!

Happy Dad! :)

Good job!

Beautiful Coral Trout

Shaun's most favourite fish in the entire world! Well done dad on impressing the captain :)

Pretty looking fish

Pretty tasting fish too :)

Fish on!

Just as we we entered the passe one fishing line went and Shaun was up...he caught what the fishing book tells us is a jobfish (or at least the closest looking fish to it :) )

Fish fish fish!

Fakarava

We entered this atoll through the south passe.

16th Sep 2011 Sunrise Fakarava

Another night of shifts at sea, this beautiful sunrise and hello Fakarava!

...a little unnerving

Not too serious, but we had two ahead of us and one behind, so it's not like we could of changed direction to be prudent. Nothing came of them except some good photos :)

Good bye Makemo :)

We made it safely through the maze of coral bommies and through the passe into the pacific ocean. Great! Well done team :) And then we saw these...

no points for guessing who got sent up the spreader today! :)

Time to go...off to another atoll, but only after navigating through the rest of Makemo.

The colours! What a surprise this atoll was!

A bit of light reading to start the day :)

beach trip!

Boatsen :)

beach trip!

Crazy/Awesome!

beach trip!

Look at this place! The trees are so luscious, the water is crystal clear and has hardly a ripple on it, the skies are divinely blue, and both the air and water temperature are perfect!

15th Sep 2011 beach trip!

Shaun and I woke up and went straight to the beach - frizbee, scrabble, walk along the beach! Now this is exactly how I pictured it! :)

We stayed here for the night

too beauitful!

oops!

Guess dad didn't like doing dinghy duty as much as we thought :)

Black tip

Eventually Shaun got dropped off and joined me on the beach. While we were sitting there this foot long black came in and swam around the little bay, he was splashing about in a few inches of water, and we could see his fin sticking out - we didn't get a picture, but we got him on video.

finally! The beach!

So dad decided the light was too bad to spot the bommies, so we went and found a nice spot to anchor where I could go ashore and enjoy the beach! Thanks dad! I was still so angry, that I got dropped off on the beach on my ace to enjoy the serenity :) Towel, chocolate, ipad, isolated beach - Happy Josi! :) The first time I have had to myself off the boat since May! It was divine!

Bommies from above

Shaun took this photo from the spreader, halfway up the mast. These are what we have been snorkeling over and around.

Prime real estate

Panoramic water views :) How good is this spot?!?

Not only that...

I had to spend 3 hours on the bow looking for bommies and relay their locations to dad, who was driving, so we could avoid them. And to top it off Shaun was giving orders from up the rigging - not a good 3 hours for Josi!

13th Sep 2011 not happy!

Rudder bearing fixed, food stocked up, diesel stocked up...time to go hang on the beach right? These beautiful white sandy beaches, which I have been looking forward to for over a year now!?!? Uh nope! The guys decide it is time to move again - I was livid!

ok enough fun...back to work men!

Dad managed to find some locals, who were very willing to help us with our rudder bearing dilemma. After many goes at trying this and that, but never giving up, these super friendly people eventually helped Shaun reshape this huge hunk of metal back to its original design. They were so happy and proud to have helped us, they wouldn't even accept our offer of payment for all their efforts and the use of their tools. The same spirit of kindness, friendliness and happiness is every in French Polynesia, or so we have found anway :)

My favourie

These electric blue guys (which also happen to match the colour of feature wall and splash back at home) hang out in this creamy coral, and sometimes with the black and white fish, also my favourite. They try to be brave and swim out of the coral when we are far away, but as soon as we too close for comfort they all somehow manage to squeeze inside the coral together, and vanish :)

Too beautiful

These snorkels just get better and better!

Snorkel time

This time we took cucu belle the grey and jumped into the water at a big bommie not too far from cucu belle the white. So much pretty coral and many more fish...I can't get enough!

12 Sep 2011 Another day, another snorkel

I could get used to this...Yip! I'm used to it! Perfect temperature in and out the water, French Polynesia is my Summer Heaven (Winter Heaven is Tokyo in the snow :) )

11 Sep 2011 pearls!

Just got back from a pearl shopping expedition. Thanks for the very special reminder dad! They are gorgeous!

coconut crab

Dad had to use Shaun's pipe grips and mallet to crack this guy open :) Shaun and I don't eat crab, so we watched as they enjoyed every moment demolishing all the meat inside. They it actually tastes a bit like coconut.

coconut crab

This thing is huge!

snorkel time

ok, so not everyone has mastered the finesse of deep snorkel diving :) but I love it anyway! The water is so comfortably warm, the light is perfect and I feel like I can hold my breath forever. I could live here!

snorkel time

...all the teeny tiny fishies! Heaven! Each boomie has it's own collection ofthe same 4 or 5 varieties of fish.

snorkel time

...we had to dive down to take a look at...

snorkel time

We jumoed off the back of the boat - the water was divine! The sandy floor was dotted with hundreds of bommies just like this one, and from above it doesn't look like much is going on...

the local life

Creative :)

The local life

Clearly colours are important to the locals, too.

The local life

Parking lot for the waterside convenience store.

Cucu Belle in Makemo

The colours!

10th Sep 2011 Hello Makemo

This atoll was full of surprises. It is way up there with our favourite atolls.

Moon rise

A great night of moonlit sailing and then...

Sunset

Well done dad!

That is a big smile! :) The drought is broken!

Happy Ria!

Happy men!

The look on dad's face says "now, where is my fish?!"

TUNA

Well done, beautiful!

Fish on!

As soon as we were out the passe, the fishing lines were out and before the boobies could attack the lure Captain Shaun caught a ...

bye bye raoria...

not everyone loves the beach :(

So it was short lived, but the seafarers were very patient with me and tried to enjoy the time on land, before we packed up and moved to another atoll.

Awwwww.....

Picnic on the beach day!

Happy Josi :)

9th Sep 2011 The Post office

Only one person can fit in this post office at a time. We went inside to buy recharge cards for the phone and in the back saw heaps of satellite dishes! Everybody has at least one satellite dish here, some houses have two or three. Interesting, how else would they watch the world cup, I guess?

The happy travelers

Goodbye lure

Shark for dinner?

After not catching a single fish since dad has been aboard (ahem) Shaun couldn't resist throwing a line off the back of the boat after dark and this is what he caught.

Thanks dad for being on dinghy duty :)

This is definitely my happy place :)

Too late in the day for a picnic lunch...

so we decided to go for a snorkel instead - WOW! nNow this is more how we pictured it!

...and this is what we found

Not exactly the silky soft sand I had in mind with a deep enough pool of water to snorkel in, but wow, what a spot! I think we can make it work...so one team goes left and the other goes right in search of the perfect picnic spot.

And we trecked...

This picture pretty much covers half the with of this motu (oh, PS a motu is a little island, and each atoll is made up of loads of little motus, so you know :))

Outdoor church

What an amazing setting for...

The local listyle

Thin boarded houses, all the concrete houses have been abanonded, seemingly in prefernce for these, rubbish gets burnt in the back yard, and people tend to gardens so well and proudly. And YES that is the Australian flag prominently displayed...Rugby World Cup fever spreads here too :)

Coconut Crabs!

Rumour has it there are these crabs that are not interested in the coconuts that fall to the ground...nope,...they want a fresh coconut, so they climb the tree, cut one down for them selves, climb back down, smack a huge hole in the coconut and dig in! Dad now, of course, has heard of these things and wants one for dinner - who in their right mind would go looking for something with claws so big big and tough they can not only climb a nearly verical tree, but then also smash open a coconut?!?! and then in the darkness of night?! Uh, think I'll pass on that one...but I am curious, so we have a side recky of finding a coconut crab (caught by the local thanks) onto our mission..., but no joy today.

Recky

Shaun stayed on the boat and had some time to herself (probably for the first time since before St Martin even) and we three went ashore to find a good picnic spot on the beach for lunch.

8th Sep 2011 Raoria

The colours of the water here are just too gorgeous!

Raroia

New looking buildings, a fair bit of construction going on...not quite as desolate as I expected.

Raroia

Inside the atoll looking oceanward. The temperature here is divine! The air the water the wind even the land - sublimely divine!

Not everyone is having trouble fishing :)

The Cucu Belle fish drought continue...

One mean looking boobie!

I have no idea what these birds really are, but they kinda look related to the blue footed boobies in the Galapagos, so we just go with it :) Clearly this one is not happy with Shaun! :)

Nope, snagged a boobie!

These birds were so interested in the lures the guys put out, they went for them. This one got snagged in the butt! Shaun reeled him in and I held him down with a towel while Shaun wiggled the hook out. He was lucky, the one we hooked earlier broke his wing and died before we could reel him in and set him free :(

Fish on?!?

Photus with Motus

Raroia

Happy Adventurers

We made it! And such a beautiful day to enjoy it :)

RAROIA

WOW! So many tiny islands.

The fishing lines go out

Hoping to snag something as they go through the pass...

So close now! Smiles are getting bigger!

7th Sep Archipeligo de Tuomotus - Raroia

How good does this look! I see white sandy beaches in my near future! So we have to enter these atolls via certain passes, and once inside we have to navigate around all those bommies to get from bay to bay without sinking the boat. Exciting!

True to form!

...just after sunset the engine stopped! So let's recap: no spinnakers, no code zero, no starboard rudder, a nursed port engine and now practically the only means of travel has stopped! Shaun dove into the water just after sunset (shark time, not good) and checked the props - nothing! So why had the engine just stopped dead? Shaun thought about this and that and figured it had to be fuel, and after a while, just when I was about to rename the boat BOBBY, Shaun got the engine going again...never a dull day on the Cucu Belle! Well done beautiful! Tuomotus here we come.

THE GREEN FLASH! WE SAW IT!

Split seconds after this photo was taken we saw the tiny green flash of light as the sunlight disappeared. We had heard about and had been watching the sunsets, with no sightings and were about to chalk it up to myth and legend, but on this day, we saw it! Now back to the game of scrabble we just started :)...

iPads for everybody!

Time to play games, watch movies and enjoy the calm while it lasts. Even play some scrabble, if the ocean is flat enough...

Relaxation

Usually after a rough night Cucu Belle gives us a break and we have a smooth day. Lucky lucky :)

6th Sep Marqesas to Tuomotus

And then!!!...

A flying fish shot through the back door and clipped Ria on the should, as she was cooking at the stove, and into the windows. It bounced off the window and fell down the stairs. A big one. What a day!

Spoke to soon!

This is the "we just lost our starboard rudder" brave face. [I have to smile or I'd cry, seriously!]Boats are neverending maintenance, I know that, but this is getting rediculous! No rudder means no code zero, which means over night on the engine, which means using the fuel we just missioned onto the boat. And we are nursing one engine, as the sail drive is not happy, so the only engine we are using is, of course, in our room and LOUD! Good times :)

Another day at sea done

What a beautiful end to a good day of sailing...or so we thought...

5th Sep 2011 Goodbye Marqesas!

Way too early for me, but we are up and away :) for the two night journey to the Tuomotus...white sandy beaches await!

Cucu Belle the atrist

The plotter can be set to track the boats movement at anchor, like an etcher sketch for boats, kinda :)

Luncheon view of Nuku Hiva looking back at Cucu Belle in the distance

Tikis!

So glad we found all these tikis, I thought we had missed out, guess not :)

Tiki

...and we stumbled on all these tikis along the way...

This one has the names of the Marqesan islands engraved in it.

Work done! Now play!

We got all our computers and went for a long walk around the bay to the hotel on the hill...

4th Sep 2011 Nuku Hiva

Work first! The dagger board housing was incorrectly repaired so Shaun sanded it back and fixed it...I cut the fiber glass into the required shapes and he glassed it to the boat...good job team! :)

Men at work

Well done guys, that was a tough one! 14 trips of 20 plus litres in each can...they make it look easy.

3 Sep 2011 Nuku Hiva

Time to refuel the boat :) 14 cans in the dinghy to the dock, easy to the pump, heavy back to the dinghy, and then sit with the funnel to filter the diesel before it goes into our tanks. A bit of a chore, as we are not comfortable with tying up to the jetty with the rolling waves. But it needs to be done and it's one way to get a morning workout :)

The local lifestyle

Boats and boats of fisherman would arrive here at the public dock at all hours of the day with huge tuna and other fish , which they caught in the bay or just outisde the bay. They would slice them up and the pieces would be sold as quickly as they were sliced. Ria was itching for some fresh tuna and was tempted to buy some, but thought the men might not be too impressed if we brought fish back to the boat, seeing as the men had not as yet caught a fish for boat, despite trying all day everyday as we sailed.

The local lifestyle

These men paddle from one end of the bay to the other and outside the bay around to other bays...just for exercise, and it is a big thing for the islanders. They love it! Sometimes the sit in the wake of a passing boat and use it to cross the bay without paddling a stroke.

The local lifestyle

Tiki greeting

To the shore!

Woohoo! In the tender to do some admin...check into the Gendarmerie, a requirement at each Marqesan island, just about.

Nuku Hiva

Looking at the entrance to the bay from the bay to the ocean. Such a beautiful panorama!

Nuku Hiva

This beautiful bay is a big circle with a small opening to the ocean. Well protcted, heaps of fish in and around the bay, and a lot more going on onshore than we've seen before. I am so excited to stay put for more than a few hours, and to get to walk around for a while! YAY!

Nuku Hiva

The entrance from the ocean.

Nuku Hiva

Just to the left of the entrance this looks like a huge waterfall, but isn't :)

Hiva Oa to Nuka Hiva

A beautiful day for a sail.

Hiva Oa to Nuka Hiva

2 Sep 2011 - Hiva Oa to Nuka Hiva

So off we go to the next and final Marqesas island of our adventure...

Tahuata to Hiva Oa

The size of the fish dad is hoping to catch? :)

Hiva Oa - Hanaiapa

Another beautiful beach AND Hiva Oa is one of the islands with no nonos! But we arrived too late to go ashore, and there was work to be done on the boat...not a happy Josi :( instead of lying on the beach, Shaun and I did runs back and forth from boat to shore to fill up the water cans and empty them into the water tanks, to give the watermaker a well deserved break. Another beautiful view for another meal before bed at sunset and early to rise the next morning.

Hiva Oa - Hanaiapa

Nice to see the north side of this island, completely different to seeing it from the car trek, crazy beautiful views! Sailing passed that huge waterfall into the ocean was magnificent.

Hiva Oa - Hanaiapa

The surf spot we saw went we went trekking by truck.

Cucu Belle

A few minutes rest for Cucu Belle before we head to another island and a new bay...the new crew have lots of energy and can't sit in the same bay for more than one meal a day! Too many islands and bays to see and so little time :)

Puffer Fish

Biiiig puffer fish! Happy Josi :)

Snorkel Ria

Snorkel Dad

Lava rocks

These shocking blue fish against the black lava rocks are just divine!

Snorkel Shaun

The water was a bit murky, so to get a good look we had to dive quite a bit to see the coulourful ones more clearly.

Spot the fish...

I love love love watching fish, I would love an entire wall of my house to be an aquarium so you could enjoy it in both rooms, so even one little pretty fishy puts a smile on my face :)

1 Sep 2011 Tahuata - Hanatefau

We woke up early and went for a snorkel in supposedly the best snorkeling in the Marqesas...oh I hope not, as this was pretty ordinary, but it was awesome to be in the water, which was warm-ish :)

Tahuata - Hanatefau

Not quite the white sandy beach I've been searching for, but here we are...so green and gorgeous.

Tahuata

Hello again Tahuatu, this time bay Hanatefau

Hanavave

We, also, give this place a thumbs up! Not a whole lot going on, not too many residents, but wow, what a place to escape to.

Hanavave

Another house, further upstream. So picturesque, just gives me an uplifting ahhhhhhhh feeling.

Hanavave

PETFOOD :)

Hanavave

...their backyard stream

Hanavave

The locals, chilling by the stream outside their house...

Hanavava

Omoa to Hanavave

31 Aug 2011 - Omoa to Hanavave

So Shaun took the three of us in the cucu belle the grey and we drove around the island...

Omoa

Happy dad - about to have Cucu Belle all to himself on his first solo (all be it mini) voyage.

Omoa - Our first real tiki

These statues are carved from stone, and represent ancestirs and tribal gods that can be seen all over different parts of these islands, and many surround special areas for sacrifices and celebrations. These tikis originated in the Marqesas. The Marqesas is known for history of human sacrifices and canabalism.

Omoa - Tapa Cloth

Job, done Ria and I went in search of tapa cloth - this is supposedly one of the last places where this is made. So I am picturing skirts and loose shirts made with a soft material...turns out they used to make a type of hula skirt out of it, but now they just use it for designs which they sell to the tourists...and it makes sense, as this cloth is made from bark, probably not the most comfortable to wear :)

Omoa

So we woke the next morning, and low and behold the buoy was missing! Thank goodness captain Shaun had tied us to the rope and not the buoy. So the ladies head to shore, happy to be on land, and also to apologise to the local mayor and offer to pay for a new buoy, not just a little red faced. We spoke with the mayor who was a little shocked we had anchored in this bay considering the buoy was marking a wreck! :) Too funny! The wreck was a local sailing boat which had sunk only two months earlier, so not on any charts or books we had available. They were very friendly and said we need only put a large fender on the rope attached to the wreck to mark it for others, which we did.

Fatu Hiva Omoa

No boats in this bay, shouldn't be a problem to anchor here....We dropped anchor, and then attached the stern line to the huge buoy in the middle of the bay...Shaun and I had to take the line in the tender and some how tie it to the buoy, which we didn't know if it was strong enough to keep the boat from rocking and rolling, oh and we were doing this in the pitch darkness of night, with a torch...uh, yeah, rocky rolly, not enough hands, no light and if you fall in it's game over, no one will find you...exciting times :)

Fatu Hiva - Hanavave

No points for guessing how it got the name the bay of penises. This was one of the best bays we have seen. Very exotic and end of the earth - ish. So popular there was no room for us, and after a few attempts, and dislodging the buoy that marks where the school boat ties to, we gave up and went to another bay, feeling very remorseful over the poor school boat buoy.

30th Aug 2011 Marqesas - Fatu Hiva

We went head to wind, on an uncomfortable over night sail to get to Fatu Hiva and more importantly the Bay of Phalli - now called the bay of virgins, after the nuns arrived :)

The adventurers

Now that we are here safe and sound, time to look at the bays and anchorages for the next island.

Dad

In his happy place :)

Ria

Ria is just as snap happy as I am, and thank goodness! She has an amazing camera, and we photograph different things of interest so our monster collection is all the better for it :)

Spreader shots panorama

It is stunning how different the view is opposite to the other. So happy sitting here looking into the pacific ocean at marveling!

Spreader shots panorama

ok, so it was a little rocky, so these aren't exaclty 'frame-worthy'...but I'm sure I'll get it right by the end of the trip :)

Down the pole

Getting up the mast is only half the fun, the other half is being able to take photos from a different angle...hellooo teeny tiny Shauny :)

Up the pole!

Work first, as usual :) Somebody didn't quite arrange the rope for the quarantine flag correctly...ahem...so they were sent up the pole ro fix it, only to the spreader as Shaun is a little too uncomfortable sending me to the top of the mast despite my assurance that I'll love it - clearly he doesn't know that side of me well enough, yet!

Tahuata

There it is! Picture perfect luscious green moutainside sloping onto a beautiful white sandy beach, but can we go relax on it?!? NO! Well, more like NONO! After reading up on this bay, we learn that this is one of the isands in the Marqesas infested with nonos...tiny little insects almost invisible to the naked eye, which nip at your skin relentlessly causing severe itching and the usual related irritation...boo! So close, but so far :( At least it makes a beautiful back ground

29th Aug 2011 - Marqesas - Tahuata

Our shortest pacific trip yet, and here we are at Hana Moe Noa Bay.

29th Aug 2011 - Family/friend Tag

Good bye Brett and Jo, hello dad and Ria...The surfers are off to Tahiti to search for waves and we are off on our adventure...

french polynesia

beautiful!

beautiful...

28th Aug 2011 - Marqesas Hiva Oa

CAR RIDE - have spent so much time together on a 62ft yacht we decided it was time to get even closer! So we hired a 4x4 and all squeezed in and had a look around - anything to get off the boat! The adventurers wanted to go adventuring and the surfers were keen to find a surf spot, so we went! The roads were bumpy, and the reason for the 4x4, and windy and uppy and downy, so it was a great work out for the abs, thrilling for the heart, (as some turns reminded me of the world's most dangerous road in Bolivia!) and the views were soulgasmic! We couldn't find any decent waves, but we did pull over for a quick swim, and our first beach! woohoo! not quite a white beach, cos the volcanic rock makes for black sand, but it soft and silky and divine! No time to lay on the beach and relax though..were went in search of Tikis, but no luck and then it was time to head back...only a tiny island, but took us a good few hours to get half way over and we didn't want to be doing it in the dark :)

Cucu Belle having a relaxing day in the Marqesas...

Safe voyage to the Marqesas, thanks cucu bellie

Hiva Oa by GPS

Hiva Oa from the Land

Land Hiva Oa!

woohoo! we did it! Looking forward to some full nights of sleep and of course the hot white sunny beaches!

27th Aug 2011 THE MARQESAS

Here we are! What a long journey from start to here this has been, there were days where I was ready to fly home to Sydney, jump ship, "help" others to jump ship!!! friendships and potential friendships made and lost, but here we are and let's hope it has all been worth it!

Go-Pro-Jo

Jo took heaps of short movies on his go pro...mostly of Shaun, Brett and him surfing and fishing (not at the same time :)) and some of the dolphins too... a lot of good stuff! Not only was he the designated videographer, but he and Brett also came up with 15 ways to serve up the two huge tuna they caught and the other fish on the boat too! Well done guys, you fed the crew well, and got inventive towards the end :)

and one for you! :)

One for you...

25th Aug 2011- Galapagos to Marqesas

The adventurous couple...watching the sunrise and sharing it with dolphins, enough for everybody

21st Aug 2011 - Galapagos to Marqesas - DOLPHIN DAYS!

18th Aug 2011 - Galapagos to Marqesas

YES, that is an inflatable pool! The boys had a mediterranean lunch while I watched a movie poolside! how good! :) It wasn't all queeziness :) - this day I woke up feeling great, there was no rain, so I made pancakes while Shaun inflated my pool, and he filled it a tenth of the way with fresh water too! It was freezing cold! But I gave it a go - and I loved it! :) after a few days the guys ruined my fun and packed it away, I think the constant sloshing became too annoying for them...bye bye pool...maybe see you again in the Australs?!?

18th Aug 2011 - Galapagos to Marqesas

Such stunning sunrises, and not always the most calmest seas, and sometimes raining, so not much air going through the boat, as doors and hatches had to be closed, but such an amazing feeling to be on shift in the middle of nowhere, all alone while everyone is sleeping, and to enjoy the sunrise.

17th Aug 2011 - Galapagos to the Marqesas

Moon rises and sunsets blur over the 15 nights at sea. These were not the easiest - feeling not quite 100%, the surfers woke up early and went to bed late, had parties on the front deck (reading books while lying in the sun on the bean bags on the trampoline), Shaun was up during his shifts and often during each of hours, as well, if something came up, and I slept as much as I could...I tried to be social at meal times, but when the boat is moving, my head becomes soooo heavy my neck can't hold it up anymore and it needs to go horizontal :) So we each did our shifts of 3 hours during the day and 2 hours at night, looking for ships and storms on the radar.

16th Aug 2011 - Galapagos to Marqesas - MORE FISH!

Shaun caught this 10kg Mahi Mahi - just for a bit of variety :)

15th Aug 2011 - Galapagos to Marqesas

Flying fish in front of the bow - we had so many marks on the side of the boat from these poor little guys flying out in the middle of the night, and we would find them in the morning with teeny tiny flying fish as small as a pinky nail stuck to the boat...it was heart breaking.

13th Aug - Galapaos to Marqesas

Well, maybe some moonlit fishing just for fun.

double hook up

... and Jo sliced them into steaks and loins...that is a lot of fish! The freezer is full...no more fishing :)

double hook up cont...

Jo caught the same size tuna, too! Brett filleted them...not such an easy thing to do when the two fish take up most of the room on the back steps, and the boat is rocking and rolling...

double hook up cont...

One 25kg Tuna! Well done Brett...

double hook up cont...

Jo's fish took him for a walk all around the boat :) ...

Double hook up cont...

The fish were big and put up a good fight...

13th Aug 2011 - Galapagos to MArqesasdouble hook up!

The surfers weren't chad for too long, as shortly after leaving Galapagos both lines went at once! Shaun figuraively had to run between the two to help with buckets, and gaff etc etc.

NATURALISTS PHOTOS

My favourite star fish of the dive

12th Aug 2011 - Galapagos - DRAMA DRAMA DRAMA!

So, we hear about this huge storm coming in, and surfers on board think it's a good idea to stay, and get some great waves. So we stay a few days, and we have to wait for fuel anyway, so it's not the end of the world, BUT! the day the waves come, the guys are all suited up, have their boards and are about to head out in the dinghy, when their fellow surfers, they met a few days earlier radio cucu belle to warn them that the police have already arrested one surfer for going into the water, and anyone who enters the surf via land/boat will be arrested and held for 3 days! So they sat on cucu belle and painfully watched these waves roll by...with a few crazy kids risking it and paddling out! And all this because a major storm was hitting Ecudaor and they were under red alert, and the Galapagos, being part of Ecuador, had to follow the rules, even though the storm was far less severe. Anyway, after arguing with the officials, and making some written declarations, the good ship cucu belle and some disgruntled surfers left under the now down graded orange alert. Good bye Galapagos :)

11th Aug 2011 - Galapagos

Visitors - Shaun took this photo and I love it! Darwin and his finches :)

8th Aug 2011 - Galapagos - Kicker Rock Dive

Good times! 2 dives, the most amazing scenes, a thermal climb we could see, before we could feel, below hundreds of sharks! How good!

naturalists photos

Poise

Naturalists Photos

In the Galapagos, in order to protect the islands, each boat has to have a certifies naturalist on board. While we were scubaing, our naturalists took our camera and these are some of the photos he took of the things we saw while we dived...

Scuba Couple

There was one depth in the dive where could actually see the change in temperature from bearable cold to fuhreezing! It was awesome, you could see this hazy wall and if you poked your finger through it, it was like it had been flash frozen! It took a little coaxing from our dive leader to get us to go down into the thermal layer! This dive was also awesome cos the strong current washing us around everywhere. I loved it! So much to see everywhere we looked!

Scuba Brett

This dive site is amazing! We had two dives here and it was crazy awesome! So many fish and so many turtles, ( no hammer heads :( boo! apparently today was too cold...uh huh?) stunning starfish, it was just incredible!!!

At the dive site

Stunning! We finally got there, after seeing this huge pod of the largest dolphins we've seen! There must've been more than 50, swimming around and a few came and played around the boat for a little bit. Fun!

Marine Iguana

Huddling for warmth on the rock, sometimes you can see them swimming around and eating seaweed, but not today. Surpisingly the Galapagos water was quite cold!

Fun with Sea Lions

Before we went to the dive site, they took us for a mini test dive and then a snorkel, where this guy came and swam around and with us we also saw....

00SHAUN

Double O Shaun, ready for action!

Practising Various Shark Dive Signs

You know, in case we actually see a shark and don't panic and have the where with all to tell our dive buddy what kind of sharl it is! Uh, sure! :)

Kicker Rock

The dive site, where we are excited to be about to dive with HAMMERHEADS!

DIVE TRIP!

We organised a dive with the local guys.

San Cristobal

Cucu Belle View of the island

Making Friends

It's hard not to adore these little guys :)

So we made some anti seal devices

They worked pretty well, although we still got awoken once or twice during the night by huge sea lions and a teeny tiny baby one - which Shaun let sleep on the boat :)

And make themselves at home on the boats that visit

Sea Lions Rule San Cristobal Island

Hello Galapagos

Frigott bird welcome

Fish at Last! A two hander at that!

Brett finally caught his first Mahi Mahi - the biggest yet - 15kg!

Too many days at sea

Ok, enough now :) Where are the sunny tropical islands?!?

Beautiful sunsets

Followed by blinking lights denoting buoys which boats have decided to leave all over the ocean! This shift was particularly exciting. Brett spotted the blinking lights, so we knew what to look for. Durng my shift I slowed the engines as we came close to some lights and the change in sound woke the guys and they came up. We decided to sail so as not to get any rope between these lines around the props. Smart decision, as the minute we crossed between two buoys we got snagged. The guys pulled the rop onboard with the gaff for the fish and then used bolt cutters to sever the metal rope strung between buoys. We couldn't believe these "fishermen"! We were pissed! Eventually we got free and continued to sail off course until we felt safe to motor again. That left a bitter taster in out mouths as we had lost time in getting ot our destination in order to get around these muppets who were hogging the ocean's tuna!

This was another doldrummy trip

Add to that some fishing pots we ran into a coupld of times, making it hard for anyone to get sleep during their off shits.

Before long it was bye bye Cocos and on to the Galapagos

We did a few deep dives here to try and see the hammerheads, but the best look we got was a shadowy outline of two as they swam passed. Better luck next time. Each dive was incredible though, the variety and numbers of fish is awesome.

HUGE Puffer Fish

These camou puffer fish were the size of my head! There were so many, and so many colours! I love puffer fish!

White Tips

These were sleeping along the ocean floor, every 2 to 3 meters, we would swim over one. Some not so little.

Scuba Shaun

We had some amazing dives in Cocos, so many fish and sharks and huge rays and puffer fish! Too divine!

Fun with clippers continues...

Some of our best photos

are taken with the Instax camera

Shark-eye-view

One kook decided after the hike that it would be fun to swim back from the island to the boat.

In shark infested waters...thanks for joining me, beautiful.

The happy cruisers in Cocos

I got this camera while we were in Ft Lauderdale, GREAT idea!

Adventurers

And their vessel

I love this one too :)

This camera is amazing! We love it!

I love this photo

Well deserved beers at the top.

Made it to the top of the slippery slope.

When there was a break in the rain, we went ashore and hiked up theThere was a cement path in the beginning and then just a mudslide after that.

Stunning

Who knows what kind of a tree this is, but it's crazy/awesome.

Spot the cat in the tree...

The Rangers Hut

When there was a break in the rain we decided to go for a walk up the hill. We also took the ranger some of our Mahi Mahi.

Scuba Scubaing

Josi and Shaun

First dive in Cocos

Excited! And got the knife, just in cases :)

Emanuellita

The rock we dived just off of Cocos. Shaun and I went first and saw this sandy are with red starfish everywhere! Just white sand and red starfish! It was stunning! We also saw white tips and thousands of other fish. Such an amazing place.

Smarter than that..

They waited until we had just uncorked the celebratory bubbly we got just for our first solo adventure...and then they arrived. All good though. They make you watch a video and tell you the does and don't as is it a reserve and needs to be looked after. They also told us the dive spots.

Waiting to check in

We contacted the authorities and they said they were on the way. They must have been on island time, so we waited and waited and then we thought, I bet as soon as we get these Mahi Mahi steaks on the braai, the guys will show up...

Then Play

Fun with clippers...

Work First

Brett had to check a halyard on the mast and took this photo while up there.

Ummm...?

And this is why we don't arrive at a new port when it is dark! Tech -no-lo-gy!

Cocos Island

It's not often you see a waterfall into the ocean...

Such a beautiful day

And after all that rain, it was nice to see sunshine which seemed to be only around this island. It was stunning.

Magestic

SOULGASMIC!

Soulgasm is a term I coined a few years back - yip, an orgasm of the soul...when something is so magical it makes your chest burst with a cylinder of butterflies and a heat in the middle, but cool on the edges, so it leaves a tingling feeling that spreads to the tips of your toes and the top of your head, leaving goosegumps all over! That is what it feels like for me to lie on the trampoline at the bow of the boat and watch dolphin after dolphin swim towards the boat and then next to it and then play with the bows as they go in and out of the water. I LOVE IT!

Dolphin Welcoming!

I was sitting in the wheel house and saw a dolphin jump up and I could see his entire body perfectly centre of the kitchen window, checking us out and asking us why we hadn't been outside to look at them yet... I couldn't believe it. It was awesome! There were sooooo many!

And then, Land Ho!

Cocos Island

It wasn't all bad...

Some shifts in the captain's chair were fun :)

The long hours took their toll

Captain Shaun had his shifts and also helped with sails during ours.

Fun? Not so much.

Shaun had to go up the mast in this fowl weather, to unhook the main halyard from the steaming light.

Squalls, lightening without rain, big swell

These are the doldrums. 4 days of this, while doing shifts of 3 hours on and 6 hours off throughout the day and we were ready for land.

And then we hit the doldrums!

Fun, photos, fishing and baking all stopped.

Josi baked a cheesecake

Whale, dolphins, three fish and a cheesecake, all in one sunshiney day! Wow! This pacific crossing thing is great!

So Shaun caught a bigger fish!

A 12kg Mahi Mahi. Marinated, vaccuum packed and frozen for future consumption. Good job, beautiful!

Brett caught another fish

A stripey tuna, and we weren't 100% sure we could eat it, so we threw it back.

Then Shaun caught another fish

Due to a technical error, this one got away, after it was dead, but the dolphins were grateful.

Shaun the Brave

Shaun jumped in and went to the back of the rope and got closer to more of them. I was way more chicken than that! He wasn't in there too long either, though.

Swimming with Wild Dolphins

We threw a line out the back and I held on while looking at them below. They came right next to me and underneath me to check me out. This one guy was black and had a very mean look in is eye, so I wasn't in for long. There were so many coming and going around us. Pretty freaky, knowing what else swims under there, but glad we did it.

Brett took this shot of us and the dolphins

Good job!

Dolphins, too

My favourite sea creature! Too gorgeous, how fun and playful they are!

Not a bad start!

A whale came to see us off.

Goodbye Panama City

Captain Shaun taking Cucu Belle for our first solo mission. We said goodbye to Travis that morning, and now we are on our way to cross the Pacific!

Unicorn Meat?!

"Magic in every bite"? WTF! :)

Magical Mall

...Giant Tigers...and...

Magical Mall

With giant apes...

Shopping!

This dork arrived early and had to wait for the doors to open at 10am.

Safety First!

Yes, I believe that is a clothes line peg holding his seat belt in place.

Back to work!

The boys replacing the largest heaviest batteries I have ever seen!

Panama City

We weren't expecting this! Reminds us of Singapore.

Hello Pacific Ocean!

I couldn't organise the tracker, so I just add these photos every now and then for the geographically minded :)

Last of the Locks

Three locks later and we are down to sea level again - npt nearly as dramatic and intense as were expecting - slightly disappointing, but stoked to have done it, and without any dramas! :)

Visitors to the canal

Who wants to see a massive container ship get pulled through the lock via trains when you can a few men taking a yacht for a walk?

The land/linehandlers

Taking Cucu Belle for a morning stroll.

Lucky Lucky!

Such a beautiful morning, after such a miserable night, and the views are stunning, no aligator sightings, but we got to the lock first and they let us go through all on our own - how good! Here you can see the train they use to walk the huge ships through the locks.

Too close?

According to the well informed, this is apparently as close as you can legally get to a container ship - and only because we are in the canal.

For those following along Google Earth

BBQing with container ships

The pilot arrived early and as we motored to the other side of the lake and the next set of locks we made breakfast for everyone - they look forward to the food on their transits. Apparently eggs bacon and cheese and potatoes is a nice break from Iguana caught fresh in a snare set up alongside the road.

Beautiful Aligator Infested Waters

The line handlers had some crazy stories, of how they had to swim to shore and sleep there or pay to get a cab ride home and then swim back to the boat at 5 in the morning as the owners wouldn't let them stay on the boat overnight! One of the guys even woke up and had a dip - he says, not to worry, the aligators are fat from eating the Canejo Panchos (supposedly these gigantic rabbots - we googled them and couldn't find it :)). Still, I don't car how fat the gator is, I'm not taking a dip, when I have a beautifully safe shower on the back of the boat!

Lake Gatun

This is where we spent the night.

Not too sure about the label...

But this is what we get when we look at the starwalk app while in the middle of the Panama Canal... I like it :)

Top of the locks!

The pilot gets a ride home and we see him in the morning - not before we HAVE to make him dinner, so not given much time, he gets a sandwhich while we fire up the barbie for a chicken braai with potaotes for the rest of us :)

Third Lock

There is so much force from the water inthe lake at the top, this lock need two sets of doors at both ends.

Second Lock

Container ship passing in parallel lock going down.

Second Lock

Top

Second Lock

Bottom

The ships get "walked" by 4 trains

Cucu Belle goes walkies

The dorrs to the next lock open and the land/linehalndlers walk her forward into the next lock.

And now w'ere at the top of the first lock

It's good we got to do it at night and see the lights of the workings of the lock.

The water gushes in...

The huge ancient doors close

They throw the mouse tails with monkey fists

Shaun and Brett and Roberto and his brother wait at their cleat and wait for the linehandler on the land to throw each of them a rope with a not at the end, which they tie to the boat to stabilise it as the water enters the lock and the boat rises.

We park behind our fellow transiter

And YES, thank you Murphy, it does start to rain as the transit begins :)

Into the lock

On the left you can see the new locks they are building which will be open 2014, I think they said. Only for ships, so the little boats can use the current locks.

Arrow Indicator

Big ship all set to go, we approach following the arrows explicit guidelines.

Give us a P, give us a C and what do you get?

The Panama Canal! yeah! woohoo! Efficient use of time over just as ship finshes passing us... time to head to the first lock.

Come on guys, seriously. Let's try it one more time...

Maybe try something a little different?

Nope that's not right, let's try it again...

Give us a ....? bigger crocodile and smaller broken ballarina?

Brett thought a cheer was in order...

Give us a ....? Crocodile and a ballarina?

Not wanting to waste anytime we each found something constructive to do

Now we wait for this ship to go ahead of us in the lock

Hello Pilot

The pilot boat comes and delivers the pilot, and aweigh we go to entrance of the canal.

Go and wait at point X

So we wait here with big guys like this, until our pilot arrives.

The Line Handlers

So the plan is to keep the boat centered in the canal while the boat gets moved around by the water rushing in the lock to raise the boat to the next level. So The needs to be a person on each side of four ropes at the four points of our boat. These are two we hired for our transit.

Simple, Right? :)

To the Panama Canal!

We were all very excited! How awesome to take a boat vertically up and over land via locks and man made lake to get to the other side.

Lucky Lucky!

We were expecting to be here at least 3 days while we waited for the boat to get processed and for a spot in the line up through the canal. Fortunately for us it was low season and we were all set to go within in 2 days of arriving. How good!

Insomniacs R US

Brett got up early and took this amazing photo of the sunrise off the back of our boat.

Breakfast costs what?!

My favourite breakfast just happens to be named after our chosen type of boat :) And the price?!?! It was delicious too!

Welcome to the Panama Canal

Considering we were driving at lightening speed, I'm pretty impressed I got this shot :)

The fuel station

The taxi driver decided now was the time to stop for fuel. Now this is what we were waiting behind to fill up :)

The lock

These huge metal doors keep all that water from shloshing us.

A look at the locks of the canal from the car

Shopping trip!

Brett and I got in a taxi and went to Colon, yes that's the name of the town :), but to get there we had to cross the Panama Canal locks. At times we were uncertain we would make it back alive as this taxi driver thought he was Crash Bandicoot! There was one road to and from the marina, single lanes, trees either side!

Travis

A very experienced Gunboat captain. We hired him so we could learn the ropes specific to this type of vessel. He is such a lovely guy! Hard working, had answers for everything and was happy to help with everything - from fishing to batteries, leaks in the water tank, incorrect readings of fuel and water gauges. He and his wife live and work on Gunboats with an owner for years at a time, so have seen and done some amazing things and hehas been through the canal before. It was great to have in onboard from St Martin to Panama City.

Shelter Bay Marina

It is rainy and wet, but very green.

Oops!

I guess not every ship makes it...

Surrounded by the big boys

These are the guys we are queuing behind to go through the canal.

Hello Panama

6 days of fun and sunshine later and here we are in Panama.

Dolphins

Just another day in the Caribbean

Sushi - Fresh from the Sea

The rice maker we got, makes perfect sushi rice, YUM!

Dolphins

Another night at sea another speed record!

So the mood was a bit better after a day of fun and food, but got even better as during the night in the early hours of his shift Captain Shaun had Cucu Belle going 24.2 knots! Just main and foresail! Go Cucu Belle!

Boat Bread

Same here, eventually we got this a little more even, but for whaetever reason, the bread just won't rise...still we keep trying :) Bread is yummy! And we love the breadmaker machine :)

Boat Brownies

Not the easisest thing to bake evenly while the motion of the ocean is beneath the oven, but at least it caters for everyone - soft and chewy top right, to burnt and crispy bottom left :)

Brett caught a fish!

It was a stripey tuna, but we were'nt too sure if it was edible so we logged it in the fish log book and out it back...not in that order.

Mahi Mahi Record Size - Shaun

Shaun caught this big 12kg Mahi Mahi/Dolphin Fish/ whatever you want to call it :) And the grumble bum mood had lifted!

I Don't Fish!

But to lighten the mood of losing the spinnaker, everyone got involved in the fishing. So I played around with this lure for a while...and low and behold...

Major FOMO

Not to be outdone, Cucu Belle the White, scooped up a flying fish as it and a few friends had just flown across the bow, and caught it in her port trampoline. Beautifully coloured creature.

Minor FOMO

Feeling a little left out of all the fishing activites, the tender, our sexy little carbon fibre dinghy, Cucu Belle the Grey, caught a flying fish! We found it, dead, in the morning.

Even I had a go...

And wasn't in there for more than a few seconds before I almost lost my skivvies and had jumped back on board.

We all joined in...

Shaun went for the head dunk.

To get their minds off the lost spinnaker

The guys contemplated and then did crazy things, like dragging off the back of the boat while doing 4+ knots...stronger than it sounds.

And then this...

We sailed throught the night with the bag up, and made good ground, everything was great the next morning too, until it was then not so great. Goodbye spinnaker :) and new speed records ... :(

Speed Records Begin - 23.8 knots!

We were having the best weather, breeze, behind us, sunshine, this was turning out to be fun. Captain was on shift when we got her up to 23.8 knots!

The FUN Starts

Such a good day, the guys decide to break out the bag...

The Caribbean

Just mellow cruising along.

The Lady

Hard at work, spreadsheeting, the last of the admin for the work done in St Martin. Not the worst place in the world to be working :)

The Men

Enjoying the catch of the day, fresh off the barbie, mate.

Beautifully coloured Mahi Mahi

The stunning colour drains quickly from the fish once it is killed, hard to watch, delicious to eat.

zzziiiizzziiiiizzz....FISH ON!

First fish of the trip goes to the captain

The boat has many framed pictures taken by the first owner who won some Nikon award 7 times...

We are working on the challenge of replacing them all!...obviously we will need the entire 6 months, once you see his photos onboard you'll have a better idea of how big the challenge really is :)

This is more like it!

Shaun fishing while I relax and look up recipes on the couch.

Captain Shaun

Off to Panama Captain! Oh, I mistakenly asked Shaun to shave his hair and grow it until we get to Sydney...in less than a month, his hair had hardly grown and he was already looking like the brother of Wolverine. And now he refuses to shave it! Talk about your all time back fire :)

Goodbye St Martin

Admin done! Boat ready for sail and here we go!

The washer/dryer saga!

Specifically designed for boats and caravans, we could not find this machine in stock in America, finally found one in the UK and we promised delivery on day x and got in on day! Luckily a day before we left. And we love it! The world's quietest, possibly most expensive after what we went through, washer/dryer ventless. Looks like the boat was made to have it there. Great job, beautiful!

New fridge

Half the size and twice the volume of the old. Good job, beautiful :)

Pantry AFTER Josi and Shaun

A few pieces of ply, some glue a jigsaw, some formica sheets and TA DA! Carpenter Jo has made entirely new shelves, yes all by herself! I can't believe I don't have a final photo, if I remember I will post it later, it looks like this, but with those front wood pieces on each shelf...I sanded the paint off the old ones and varnished them and they came out like this...everything else is new...we don't like maggot bodies in our pantry, so now we have a fresh new clean and shiny pantry! YAY!

Shaun ripped out the fridge

Josi ripped out the shelves

So we ripped it out!

Shaun ripped out the fridge....

Pantry BEFORE Josi and Shaun

See that big white thing on the right, ... all of that is a fridge, which wasn't made correctly and doesn't insulate properly...and all the crap in there was left by the previous owner and all those shelves and the floor had rotting maggots stuck under there and it was DIIIIIIISGUSTING!

Old fridge

not so good...

The new cushions and covers arrived

It didn't rain all day, until the brand new cushions and covers for the tables and braai arrived... thanks Murph. Not surprisingly the brilliant home couturist Risje, had them safely wrapped in plastic and everything made it to the boat dry. They look amazing! and feel divine! Thanks Risje!

A view from our hotel room

Not the worst place in the work to be working.

Back to the boat

A 15 min plane ride and we had to clear passport control and customs, shortest queue ever!

St Barths

This island was beautiful, and fun to scooter around. I think we rode most of it in about an hour. Crazy drivers, tiny, hilly, bumpy roads, with stunning views. Loved it!

What would a one night romantic getaway to a remote French island be without some..

Scooter scootering :)

Runway into blue yonder

uh, ... yeah...

Runway over the beach

Oh, you're not allowed to stand here, so you have to walk quickly across this section of beach/runway to the rest of the beach :)

The Runway

We needed to getaway so we took a flight to St Barths! Best roller coaster ride I have ever been on in my life! The runway is short, ends in the ocean and.....starts behind a steep hill! WTF! So the pilots, who have to get a special licence to land here, start aiming straight down, no jokes, from miles up in the air! Shaun and I, the only passengers, just held onto the back of the chairs in front of us and looked at each other and laughed, and then watched through the windshield as we aimed nose first for land! FUN!

Emergency Escape

To st Barths

Flying Cucu Belle

Back in the water, after having tummy cleaned and freshly painted (antifouled).

St Martin from above

This is where we have been for weeks and weeks getting the lady ready for sail.

more pantry work

Refitting the outlets...

Check safety equipment

Better than any tent I've owned! At least we know what we're in for if there is ever a need for plan B.

Amazing Shaun

Josi wanted a washing machine, (washer dryer ventless, actually :) flown in from London!, so Shaun made it happen! :), removing some drawers, and having the base glassed and getting the sparky to arrange the outlet. and presto, a place for the cleaner! :)