Around the Horn

Well...it sure it hard to work full-time, and do anything else. We both come home zapped at the end of the day. It appears we're a little soft. I guess we need some time to build up our endurance.

While you're waiting for me to get enough energy to write a blog post, you might want to check this out. Our friend John, who we met in Majuro and visited in Alaska, has decided to sail a small, engineless boat around the Horn. You can read about it here: http://ajohnbankstrip.com/ 

Fair winds JOHN!!

Molly II - going around the Horn

Spelling Bee at Aur Atoll

We're out of Majuro and exploring Aur, an atoll about 70 miles north of
Majuro. We're back in South Pacific paradise. Beautiful islets of coconut
trees, sandy beaches, and friendly people.

 

We stopped at the main island of Aur, and paid our respects to the mayor and
did a short 'jambo' (walk-about). When the wind came up, we decided to seek
a calmer anchorage, and meandered north to a small uninhabited islet, where
we stopped for a couple days. We walked the island (no glass balls yet), and
read our books.

We then moved north to the islet of Tabal - where James called us on the vhf
to welcome us to Tabal, and invite us to his home at the local clinic. His
outboard needs some work, so John will give him a hand with repairs on
Monday (Sunday is a rest day). We also met the local World Teach volunteer,
Kendra. She has introduced us to many people here, and invited us to watch
the Spelling Bee, a big local event in celebration of Education Week.

Earlier in the day the school enjoyed a sports day, complete with weaving
competitions. The community was in attendance, and we were treated to a
shared meal of delicious fish and rice after the children had demonstrated
their exceptional spelling skills!

An aggressive game of musical chairs was part of the pre-bee activities

We were invited to share in a feast of fish and rice. John and I were honored to be served the heads. Notice also the awesome plates woven from coconut fronds.

Today is Sunday, so we're heading to church, and we expect a leisurely day
ahead of us.

Fun in Honolulu

Our first few days in Honolulu have been fabulous! We're moored at the Waikiki Yacht Club, in central Honolulu. We're beside a wonderful park and beach, the bus routes, and the biggest mall in the state. We've been all over town shopping for alternators, used books, and a new bikini. We also had the great luck of being here at the same time as my aunt and uncle, and it was great to catch up with them. Next up...sightseeing!

The view from Laysan's flybridge

At the park beside the marina, we placed bets on the remote control sailboat racing.

My aunt and uncle, Tosh and Donna, were thrilled to get a tour of Laysan.

Merry Christmas to You and Yours

Since we are one of the first time zones to bring in Christmas day, we are
sending out a BIG holiday greeting to all of you!

We hope your Christmas is happy, healthy, and shared with loved ones!

Our Christmas in the Marshall Islands has been fabulous so far. We woke
early to fresh scones (thanks, Brandy)! We took our time opening our
stockings and a couple of presents (aka boat parts) that we'd bought for
each other. We were spoiled with treats that Ron had brought from home
(thanks to our family)!! John had bought a new camera to replace the one I
dropped in Kanton, and so did my brother! We're finally once again a two
camera family! Hurray!!

It's been a great morning. We're rolling sushi in preparation for a
Christmas potluck ashore with the other yachties here.

Enjoy your Christmas, wherever you might be!!

Cockroaches, Car Rentals and Late Cargo - by Ron

Dec 19

We had great intentions for our trip to the town of Laura at the north end
of the atoll. We had a nice breakfast and although the skies looked rather
grey, we had a rental car waiting and cargo/luggage to pick up from the
airport.

I got a first hand experience with island time twice today. First was our
experience at the rental place. It took us well over an hour to get the
rental car, only to find it had a nice little colony of cockroaches and
ants. John had a small freak out, which led to us getting another rental
car. It too was full of cockroaches. John sucked it up though, but he sat in
the front seat.

It reminded me of a time when John, Mom and I had gone to the local fair
that came to town every year in Campbell River. John was about 8 and I was
6. It was on this day that I realized my brother was afraid of things. He
freaked out at the top of the Ferris wheel, and the attendant had to bring
us down.

Regardless of the cockroaches, we decided to carry on. We had planned lunch
and an afternoon at the beach. Unfortunately, a lot of rain got in the way!
We had fun driving around checking the north end of the island. We stopped
for boiled eggs, cupcakes, fanta and ice cream for lunch at a side road
store.

The main reason we had rented the car was to retrieve the cargo/luggage that
was coming in from Guam. This was my second experience with "island time".
We were told to come back at 8pm by the cargo guy. Nothing arrived and we
were told to come back at 11:15pm.we got back to the boat at 1:30am (the
airport is only 25 minutes from the boats). It was a very long evening
getting the cargo. Needless to say it was enjoyable hanging out just John
and me and talking about our thoughts and plans for the future. We went
through the bags when we got back to the boat and headed off to bed. I went
to sleep knowing I would have clean underwear in the morning. Yahoo!

Snorkelling, Sailing and Supper - by Ron

Dec 18

I woke up early and read, made coffee and waited for John and Naomi to wake.
I was up at 4am (7am Vancouver time). I am staying in the master suite; very
nice!

I arrived yesterday from Honolulu, Hawaii to an airport that consisted of
one air strip on about 1 km wide piece of land. The arrival/departure
building was from circa 1960, but worked just fine. The luggage was brought
to the luggage drop off by a forklift. Unfortunately, my bags did not arrive
(they say it will be here Monday night). I am now wearing my brother's
shorts, and not much else as it is too warm for jeans. All is good.

I have easily switched into relax mode. I am so enjoying being on a boat for
an extended length of time. As well, it is so nice to be around Naomi and
John and share in part of their adventure. The Laysan is truly an amazing
vessel; 1st class!

It was a sunny day, but the wind has been rather intense. We decide to take
the Laysan out for a test run. It was nice to go to a protected island for
the afternoon. We tried out the sails and cruised around the lagoon. Naomi
and I snorkelled on a coral reef around a sunken helicopter and airplane. It
was one of the highlights of the trip so far. The fish were amazing to swim
near and came in many beautiful colours, shapes and sizes. We saw one huge
puffer fish (as big as a nice sized tyee). We explored the coral and the
beach.

We had yummy left over spaghetti for lunch and an afternoon cocktail. It was
a lazy and enjoyable day. I seem to have designated myself "preparer of
food". I made sweet chili pork and rice for supper. We ended the day with a
movie on the flat screen t.v., which magically ascends from the living room
cabinet. Life is not too bad at all. I crashed by 11pm.

First Day in Majuro - by Ron

Dec 17

Ron is keeping a journal of his experiences in Majuro, and has agreed to
share his thoughts on the blog. Good thing...since I've been downright
negligent of late. Introducing Renova's newest crew and blogger -- brother
Ron...

I arrived to smiling faces and hugs from John and Naomi. Naomi laid me with
a Maumau. I was a bit battered from 20 hours travel. I got settled, had a
nap and we headed into town. We did a big grocery shop and went for lunch at
a local restaurant called Dar. So yummy! We had two couples over for a
sunset cocktail. It was nice to visit with the neighbourhood sailboats. At
night I made a great spaghetti dinner and caught up with John and Naomi some
more. I crashed by 8pm.

Ron's Here

Ron has arrived!!! We've been looking forward to the arrival of John's
brother for months. It is great that he's now here, and we are looking
forward to 10 days of touring Majuro, sailing, and celebrating the holiday
season.

Unfortunately, his bags did not arrive with him. We'll go back to the
airport today, in hopes that they've now arrived.

Sliding Rocks in Samoa - A Video

Well, here is my first attempt at putting together a video of our adventures. Here's a trip we took to the Papaseea Sliding Rocks while in Samoa. Enjoy.

We also tried to make a video of our time in Samoa. I'd love to hear what you think of these videos, and if you have any suggestions!

Terio Islet - Abaiang

After saying goodbye to our friend on Abaiang, we set off the following day to the other side of the lagoon. We planned to stop for the night at Terio, where an Englishman has a small rest house on this beautiful islet. We went ashore and met Derrik, who seemed happy for the opportunity to speak english, and we were happy to hear about his 30 years of experience in the South Pacific.

When he heard we were on our way to Tarawa, he asked if we would take an eskie (cooler in Aussie-speak) of clams with us. Of course!! Early the next morning, Derrik paddled the heavy cooler of clams to the boat. We were able to easily meet his daughter in Tarawa, and pass on the clams to be sold while still fresh.

Derrik and the boys paddle the clams to Renova. Notice their typical Kiribati paddles - chunks of wood.

We're now back in Tarawa, to resupply, and organize a few odds and ends. But Abaiang was so beautiful, that I suspect we'll be back there soon.

Leaving Abaiang...for now

Abaiang has been fun. Although the tide has limited our time on the shore, we've been able to walk on most days. Our friend, Ngaluenga, arranged for a motorbike for us to see some of the island. So he and his daughter took us to see the large Catholic Church in a village called Koinawa. We walked up the tower, had a look around and took a few pictures.

 

En route, some of the locals offered to seek out the island's best singers to perform for us, if we would provide some funds for kava. We were initially skeptical, but our host was encouraging so we decided to go for it. When we returned from the village, first the local policeman and the bar owner performed for us. Soon after, the husband and wife singer team joined us in the kava bar, and sang local songs for us. Our host translated the songs for us, most of which were love songs. Unfortunately, one of the mics was giving
them problems, and constantly buzzed and offered screeching feedback. They didn't seem to mind, this must have been normal for them! And, there wasn't any Kava to be found on all the island!

 

Finally, we took Ngaluenga to the boat for a quick tour.

Thank You Kanton

Wow...After five weeks, we'll finally be moving on. Without a doubt, Kanton
has been the warmest place that we've been privileged to visit on this
voyage. The people have welcomed us into their homes and hearts. We've never
been without an interpreter, fish for dinner, some rusty relic to explore,
or a companion for tea. What an amazing place.

Tomorrow, we'll head to the beach one last time, to say goodbye to our new
friends. It won't be easy.

Takarei and her family

And most difficult of all...we'll also be saying goodbye to Eric, whom we've
been travelling with, on and off, for 5 months. In a few days he will also
weigh anchor, but his destination is south to Tonga. After spending every
day with him here, we're sad at the thought of parting ways.
We're already scheming about ways to return here in the future. Maybe our
next cruise? Maybe by air? There is talk of re-opening the massive runway.

A few of the vases we received

Next stop...Abemama. 900 miles to the north west - a downwind run. We expect
the passage to take 8-10 days. The island atoll is in the Gilberts - a group
of islands that also belong to the Republic of Kiribati. We hear that there
are two MP's on the island, therefore, it must have at least 1000 people. We
have an older cruising guide that says over 2000! Hurray. Do you know what
that means?? A STORE! We'll be able to re-stock on supplies. We've been
eating fish everyday, so most of our supplies are fine, but we are in
desperate need of eggs, flour and pringles.

Good bye Beautiful Samoa

We're leaving Samoa. 

"It's easy to say hello, but hard to say goodbye". That is what our cab driving friend Tiali told me today. How right he is. We've had a great time here. We've met incredible people. We've seen stunning natural features and landscapes. It is an incredible country. 

But, our pocket books, calendars, and livers are all screaming for a break...so tomorrow, we head for Canton Island, in the Phoenix Group of Kiribati.

We will not have internet again for many months. Please hold off on emailing us with your photos for a while. We will continue to update our blog via the satellite phone. Unfortunately, I won't have enough time to update the blog with all our Samoan adventures, but here's a few images of Samoa.

Dancers at the Fia Fia

Dancers at the Fia Fia

Daniel cruising down at the Sliding Rocks (photo by Michelle)

Renova disappearing in the swell (photo by Eric)

Here is Renova and Evangeline bobbing about as we left the harbour during the Tsunami warning. (Photo by Eric)

A few of the interesting items at the fish market (photo by Dom)

Fire dancing (photo by Dom)

The sunset dinghy derby. FISH ON.

Earlier this week, I've added a few other posts of our time in Samoa...but you'll have to scroll down to see them...they are backdated. 

Reconnecting with Cruising Friends

Yesterday, I was thrilled to take a trip to Victoria to meet up with cruising friends we met in Mexico. Liz and Mike were kind enough to check out a second hand sail in Seattle for us...and then offered to deliver it to us via the Clipper Ferry! I met them in Victoria and we had a great afternoon catching up!

Back in November, John and I rendezvoused with Jacob and Julia - our friends from Pisces - also in Victoria. We met them last year in La Paz, and buddy-boated with them. They are now settled in Seattle, and their fabulous Jason 35 "Pisces" is for sale.

Sand Bar Sunday

So...picture this...

Crystal blue, warm water.
Standing up to your waist.
Tying the dinghy to the volleyball net.
One-handed volleyball (beer in the other hand).
Numerous floating tiki bars.
People EVERYWHERE on floaty toys.
Music radiating.

This is Sunday at the sand bar. Crazy. But true.

Alex and Kate picked us up, and we spent the afternoon lounging on the sand bar. It was a fabulous way to meet more cruisers and cool off. We had planned to leave that morning, but decided to spend one more night, as the bilge pump was giving us problems. Good decision!! Unfortunately, one night turned into two, as we needed to spend the next day in recovery mode. Sheesh.

Adios Mexico!

The water tanks are full, we've provisioned the boat (multiple times), sea berths are made, cookie dough is in the ice box, the decks are clear, and we're clean. We're ready!

After many failed attempts and delays...we're finally leaving lovely La Cruz, and heading for the Galapagos Islands. A dream come true for me.

Although our stay here has been tumultuous...we've really come to enjoy La Cruz. We've been able to meet incredible new friends here, enjoyed a vist from my parents, get work done on the boat and have gotten into the groove of the cruising life. Morning yoga and afternoon swims at the beach are really easy to get used to!!

We'll be updating the blog more frequently, and our spot link on the right will show our progress. We expect the journey from here to take 2-3 weeks.

The Perfect Margarita

Well...I've learned a lot here in Mexico...but I think this lesson will stay with me for a while.

Margs, Mexican Style

In a small pot, heat up 1 cup of water and 1 cup of sugar, stir until dissolved. Store in the fridge/icebox/bilge/wherever. This is your 'sweet'.

In a shaker mix:

• 1 part sweet (from above)
• 1 part lime juice (of course, use handy dandy lime sqeezer to up the fun factor)
• 1 part tequila/damiana (I use mostly tequila with a dash of damiana)

Shake with ice and strain into the ubiquitos plastic tumbler found in every galley. On the boat, we aren't nearly sophisticated/capable/patient enough to rim the glass with salt, but we do garnish with lime.

Of course, you should adjust to your palette. More/less water to the sweet mixture, or more/less damiana with the tequila.

Put on a little Jimmy Buffet, and you're good to go!

Thanks to Liz for the recipe!!

Still in PV

We're still hanging in PV, finishing up our chores, before we head south. Having met so many people here, it is easy to pass the days chatting on the docks, attending puddle jump seminars and enjoying drinks and dinners with other boats. We've also had the additional fun of visiting my parents at their hotel, enjoying the perks of an all-inclusive resort!
Some of our highlights:
Our bowsprint after the storm:
A day trip to Tres Marietas with my parents:

Dinner and dancing at the Open Mic night at the Brittania - Ye Ol Irish Pub. Crews of Namaste, Saoirse and Fly Aweigh celebrating with a few Pacificos.

Puddle-Jump kick off party at Vallarta Yacht Club in Paradise Village (photo credit: Andy at Latitute 38):

Dining at Paradiso Escondido in la Cruz:
[photo to come]
Happy hour on board Renova:

And now, Jacob and Julia have arrived in La Cruz...so getting away could be even more difficult as we catch up and enjoy hanging out once again!

Isla Isabela

This island, southwest of Mazatlan, is a national park, and a nesting reserve for frigatebirds and boobies. We've heard how fabulous it is from fellow cruisers, Mark and Vicki, so we had high expectations and we were not disappointed. We anchored close to the beach, and had to work hard to find a sandy patch to place our anchor inbetween the rocky bottom. I didn't sleep well here knowing that our anchor wasn't as well set as we normally like (we dive to check the anchor, now that we are usually in shallow, warm waters).
By late afternoon, we rowed ashore to the fishing village and hiked to the top of the small peak on the western edge of the island. We walked through amazing colonies of Frigatebirds, who nest at head height, in densely populated colonies. Once at the top, we were among the Boobies - both the Brown and the Blue-footed species - who next on the ground and had claimed this high territory as their turf. As the sun set, we watched their mating antics, and chatted with Holly and Grant, cruisers who had been here for almost a week and had good suggestions for hiking and swimming spots.

The following day we hiked the island with Pisces and with Chris and Rani on Ladybug (from Victoria).

Again, we were shocked a the number of nesting birds and their apparent fearlessness. We were able to walk right up to them, and in some cases, they had created their nest right on or beside the trails.
We swam and ate lunch near a research camp, where grad students studied the birds and were more than happy to answer our questions regarding the birds and their behaviour.
In the afternoon, John took a case of Tecate (think: lucky lager) to the shrimp boat and received a humongous bag of huge prawns. After delivering dinner-sized portions to every other boat in the anchorage, he cooked up a fabulous dorado and prawn stir-fry which Pisces shared with us. They were delicious, but I'm pretty sure they are caught by bottom-trawling, so until we find out for sure, we won't likely be eating too many more. We ended the evening saying our farewells to Jacob and Julia. We're now off in different directions, and not sure when we may meet again. New Zealand? Hawaii? Washington? PV? Thanks, you guys...it's been tons of fun!!

Leaving La Paz

Although the weather won't be ideal from crossing to the mainland for a few days, we're leaving La Paz with plans to explore the islands again, and then cross to mainland Mexico. We took off this morning, after saying good bye to our new fabulous friends, Eric and Merry, on Sorceress. What a great time we've had with them, and we're hopeful that we'll catch up with them again in the next few days, or in Colorado!

We're now anchored in San Gabriel, with plans to explore the sea caves on the other side of the bay.