Mikey arrives on a shitty day

My brother, Mike, has arrived for a three week visit!! We're thrilled to
have his company on Renova. Too bad Tara couldn't join him.

Our first day was pretty relaxed. We sat around and caught up on news, and
enjoying unpacking the treats that he had brought with him from home. We
were thrilled with the books and magazines that he brought for us, as well
as lots of dried foods that will be great for the long sail home next month.
Our first evening was spent having dinner with the yachties.

Wind is light this week, so we've decided to stick around Majuro, until we
have some wind to push us to the outer islands. Even without wind, life
hasn't been dull. Mike's first full day was spent watching John rebuild our
head (toilet)...the most loved boat project aboard. Unfortunately, we
discovered a crack in the pedestal, so we've had to order a new part. Oh
well...it's a good thing we have great mail service here. There was no
shortage of poo jokes around here. Two boys, a toilet in pieces in the
cockpit and the kitchen, and the chief mechanic is also the chief cook. Yep.
Good times.

Shit-eating grin :O)

Oh yeah. And it poured rain for his first two days.

Radio Heaven

We've died and gone to radio heaven.

We've spent the better part of a week or so installing our new radios. First, we installed a new VHF radio. This one has AIS. The picture below shows the display that shows all the nearby vessels that are transmitting an AIS signal (commercial traffic typically), and some killer info...like how fast they are going, what direction they are headed, if and when they will collide with us. Simple things that make life SO much better. And hopefully, safer.

We toyed with getting an AIS receiver, that would plug into our chart plotter software. It would require an extra VHF antenna. No problem, we've already mounted a spare. But...when we're on a passage, we don't run our chart plotter continuously. Saving power. But we do keep our VHF on. So, this was a perfect solution.

Sadly, our old cockpit mic doesn't work with this unit, but no worries. The good folks at Standard Horizon are sending us a compatible one ASAP!!

The other uber-cool radio news is that we are working on a SSB radio!! Andy and Monica on SV Savannah sold us their old radio for a smokin' good price. We (well, mostly John) installed it in only three days (!) with a fair amount of course language that I attribute to years on job sites and fishing boats. But, bad language aside, guess what - it works, mostly!! We are still doing some testing, and it isn't perfect, but we're making great progress.

Life is good. Our projects are coming along well. Departure from Majuro is imminent.

Back in Majuro

Sorry for the radio silence.

We're back in Majuro. We left Honolulu early Monday morning, crossed the
date line, and arrived Tuesday morning. After a passage of 22 days, we
managed to cover the same distance in just 5 hours. Amazing. And no charges
for our overweight bags. Well, unless you consider the rips and tears a type
of fee.

Being back has its pros and cons. For instance...we wondered if Renova
always smelled like this? A bit musty. Even mildew-y. Did her woodwork
always have these worn patches here and there? I suspect so. We've simply
been spoiled with the wonderful new-ness of MY Laysan. Even so, after almost
two months of neglecting Renova, we're glad to be home, and after our
initial day of rest, we're already in frantic cleaning mode. We're anxious
to begin exploring the reputedly phenomenal outer islands of this country.
And...it feels good to give Renova some love.

Renova in a state of disrepair, as we do a mad clean

So far, we've scrubbed, de-cluttered, installed a new VHF (with AIS...yeah),
and dined with our fellow yachties! We've also spent time with our friends
on SV Carina, who were kind enough to help us with some sail repair while we
were away. We had noticed that some of the stitching on our 2009 genoa was
coming loose at the clew, and we had some areas of chafe. Philip and Leslie
did a fabulous job of the repairs and we've learned a lot along the way.
We've got a few more projects on the to-do list, before we leave here. SSB
installation. Alternator install. Provisioning. Immigration. Computer
set-up. And the list goes on.

Leslie and Philip from SV Carina help us with sail repair

I'm sure there are a zillion emails in our inbox. We've been very negligent.
Sorry. I need to spend a couple days tapping out our belated replies. Until
the captain sets me free from cinderella duty, please know that we are
thankful for your emails, and will respond personally asap!
If it is any consolation...I was able to take advantage of free and fast
wifi at the yacht club by uploading pics to our flickr page. I posted pics
of our time at Abemama, Tarawa, Abaiang, Majuro, Johnston and Honolulu. You
can check them out here: www.flickr.com/photos/naomit

Stay tuned...I'm keenly aware that we have more to blog about the rest of
our time in fabulous Honolulu, and some stats summarizing our trip from
Majuro to Hawaii on MY Laysan. Coming soon to a browser near you!
Pics: Leslie and Philip do a fabulous job with our sail repairs. This is
what Renova looks like in major de-clutter mode. Yep - that's my flip flop
collection at John's feet. I've made a major contribution to reducing our
gross tonnage by sacrificing two pair.

Nothing Going On

Dec 5

I tried to tell you that there wasn't much interesting going on here.
Interesting is the key word. We've been busy enough with various boat
projects. But not so interesting. For example, last week I spent 3 days
polishing 2 lamps. Yep. Good times.

Labels: Majuro, Marshall Islands, maintenance, projects

Let there be Light!!

Nov 29

We are slaves to our battery bank. When it is sunny, and the solar panels
are putting in lots of amps, we are happy campers. But (and there is always
a BUT), Majuro isn't an especially sunny spot. I know...we're in the
tropics. Crazy. But still - not sunny. Hot? Yes. Muggy? Yes. But sunny?
Well, sometimes. Good for our water tanks. Bad for our batteries. So, John
happily gets to put our new generator and battery charger to good use.

As a result of the lack of sun, we are miserly with our power usage. We have
solar lights that we use inside the cabin to read at night. And we have a
solar garden light that we use as an anchor light. Both are not so bright.

But, we've found a solution. A local yachtie sold us two strips of LED
lighting. John attached one to a long cable and velcroed (is that a verb?)
it around the mast. The second strip he fitted into our existing anchor
light fixture at the top of the mast. Now, we have SUPER bright lights, and
we can be seen at night. Which is a good thing. Especially on Sundays. When
the locals might be just a bit tipsy. And might rage through the mooring
fields. Mighty Fast. Mighty Close. Sheesh.

Here's a pic of our new light wrapped around the mast, and a pic of the boat
John took while installing the anchor light on the top of the mast.

Labels: Majuro, Marshall Islands, weather, maintenance, gear, projects

Engine Success!

It's no secret that we've had transmission troubles. We're still running, but it's making an odd sound, and there is movement where there shouldn't be. We had ordered a new damper plate and adapter flange from the US, and they arrived this week, on (US) Thanksgiving...and thankful we were!!7

We weren't sure exactly what was wrong, but we (ie John) had a few suspicions, so we ordered both the damper plate and the adapter flange just in case. Good thing. We spent Black Friday pulling forward the engine, in order to remove the transmission. We discovered the damper plate had a big crack in the plate, and the adapter flange has severely ovalized bolt holes. No wonder there was so much movement (and a big clunking sound)!!

Yep. That's a pretty significant crack.

Those two holes look perfectly oblong. But they should be round.

On Saturday, we managed to get the transmission put back together, painted, and back in place. By the evening, we had returned the engine to it's bed, and were able to do a test run. SUCCESS.

Once again, John has hero status. There is a tiny, uncomfortable access hatch to the back of the engine, and no room for helpers. I did what I could, but he has managed another triumph in Renova's saga.

John squeezed into the back of the engine compartment.

Majuro Atoll

We finally managed to get a coat of Cetol (varnish) on all the bare wood
that John has been sanding, so we followed Brickhouse and Savannah out of
the mooring field to explore the lagoon. We managed the 6 miles very
quickly, and after a nice downwind sail we were tied up to a mooring ball at
Eneko (Enigu) islet. Savannah watched our entertaining performance as we
picked up the ball under sail, which we managed without a hitch (ha - on our
second attempt)!

Following the show, they invited us over for dinner, and we enjoyed
hamburgers while we planned our adventures for the next few days.

More Outboard Engine Repair

I know. You're scratching your head, wondering what is wrong with that picture. Yet another pic of John tinkering with our outboard. But wait a minute. That isn't a 70's era Evinrude?? I KNOW!! :O)

We noticed our next-door-boat had this tiny outboard on his stern, and a great big dinghy, with a good sized outboard. We decided to investigate. Turns out...he isn't using this one. It doesn't run, but hasn't been used
too much and isn't very old, and he's happy to sell it to us, if we can get it running. Well... You can only imagine the monstrous grin on John's face!

John's in his happy place. Cleaning fuel lines. Rebuilding the carbarator. Going for laps around Renova. Happy guy.

And then there was one...

Renova, alone in the anchorage

After a fun-filled couple of days, all of our anchorage companions have now left us. Australia 31 and Secret Agent Man left yesterday, and this morning the Domo Zita and the Calypso, the Italian boat, have also left.

We are now the solitary boat here. The winds have filled in, so we imagine that all of them will have a great
sail to Samoa. Good winds also mean that we could have more boats arriving, who have left from French Poly, including perhaps our friends on La Familia.

Given the number of sharks around here, we look forward to swimming and fishing with friends around, so that we don't have to swim alone!

We've got a few little jobs to do while we're here. The GRIB files that we rely on for our wind forecasts are notoriously less accurate as we move West. So I'm now sorting out the weather fax files that we can receive via our HF (high frequency) radio. And since our little nav computer is making more and more odd noises, I'm setting up our big computer to be ready as a full backup nav system. And organizing our paper charts for the months ahead. And...we are keeping lists of things we need from home, since Dom has been considering another visit while we are in Samoa! Of course, all of this activity is kept at bay by a healthy amount of time spent in the water and enjoying all the new books that I have been accumulating. After having a complete lack of quality reading material, I've started to demonstrate hoarding tendancies...whenever an interesting book becomes available, I can't help but grab it up, even though we are bursting at the seams with books!

My favorite place to curl up with a good book

As always, we appreciate your news. We have heard of the Canucks success in the playoffs. We'll have to get our our Canucks flag!!

At dusk

Hurray...success

See that grin? That is the grin of a very happy man. I did some internet research today and found the needle jet settings for our 1970's era outboard. John spent about 15 minutes doing a bit of fiddling, and then he was happily doing circles around Renova, with our new outboard speed - IDLE!

He's pretty pleased.

PS - the masts in the background are all boats in the boat yard.

Fixed....sorta

After an evening of cocktails aboard Lady Meg, with Australia 31, we all came up with a number of possible culprits for our outboard problems. Before breakfast the next morning, John had her running again.

Mark, you were right, that guy can fix anything!!

So, once again, we can get to shore, and to visit other boats. We still can't idle, and we're a one-speed show, but for now, we're happy with that.

If it ain't broke....

Well, Lil Ev (our outboard motor for the dinghy) has been running a bit rough - in fact, it has one speed...fast. Well, as fast as a 1970's 4 hp engine can go. So not really any trouble for us...except upon approach to a crowded concrete dock, or a fellow cruiser's really nice and shiny boat. So...John decided to investigate.

Now. We have no speeds. No spark. Nada. Nothing.

Oops.
 
Here's a pic of the work in progress. On our steering pedestal.

Renova's Make-over

Well, as a result of one of our cushion covers looking and smelling REALLY bad when we returned to the boat, we decided to finally recover the cushions. We've always hated our existing cushions, but they weren't bad enough to justify the expense of re-upholstery. SO....this was just the push we needed. We picked out some Polynesian fabric (surprisingly, not flowers), and I spent a full day on the boat with the sewing machine. By the time we went to visit Secret Agent Man for dinner, I had all four cushions complete, and was pretty pleased with myself!! :O)

The new, blue cushions are on the top of the image, the old, yellow-beige cushions are on the bottom. Although they didn't look bad, all the loose cushions were a pain in the butt.

Disappointment in Raiatea

(Written on July 28)

We booked time in the boatyard at Raiatea Carinage some time ago and we've worked up quite a to do list while we sat on the hard. When we first pulled into the lagoon at Raiatea, we went straight to the yard, picked up a mooring, and investigated. My heart sunk. The yard was dirty, no washer-dryer in sight, and worse of all...it had only one toilet stall and a single shower. And both were beyond disgusting. I wasn't sure that I could withstand five days with such facilities. And I'm no princess. Mike and John were just a grossed out as I was. 

So, on Monday morning, when we were hauled out of the water, Mikey took a mop and a bucket of bleach to the facilities. Although it didn't look much better, at least we knew it was clean. Kind of. In any case, we were still very careful not to touch anything when being in there. EWWWWWWW....

The good news is that the stands they use to support the boat are pretty fabulous, and we feel quite secure about leaving the boat here. They've done a good job of hauling the boat, and the workers even swam below to boat, to place the straps exactly where they were needed. And the staff could not be nicer, or more helpful. Wow.

Our neighbors here in the yard have been great...Eric and Kris on SV Lady Meg are fellow Canadians and are finishing their trip around the world. They've been a great resource, as they've stored their boat in yards around the world several times to return home to Canada. There is a local family here, and the two girls, Leah and Daphine, are taking care of the litter of yard puppies...and have also been a hoot as we exchange language skills.

Our time at Raiatea went by in a blur of boat projects. Mike and John took a day off to dive a local wreck...John even saw the elusive Hammerhead Shark. I stayed on the boat, as I knew I'd want to do more diving here next year upon our return, and diving inside wrecks freak me out. Something about confined spaces, I guess! We also spent time with friends on Dillon and Escapade to check out some of the local eateries, share a few meals, and watch a local festival.

It was great having Mike here, although was probably not the most relaxing end to a dream holiday for him! He's promised to write a blog post about his time on the boat, so stayed tuned for his perspective! After a few days in Raiatea, we stuffed his duffel bag full of broken boat parts, and went to see him off at the airport. We'd be following in his footsteps in a few days as we make our own way home.

Point Venus - Tahiti

Point Venus, Tahiti, Society Archipelago, French Polynesia

After fixing our bilge pumps, we said goodbye to our friends here, left the bustling metropolis of Papeete, and headed to Point Venus. Our friend Chris on Namaste had told us this was a great windsurf spot, and we were keen to check it out. There was a raging wind on the way up there, and once we set the hook, we still felt obliged for one of us to stay on the boat, to make sure we didn't find ourselves half way across the lagoon!

The boys checked out the black sand beach, went in search of the windsurfing spot, and chatted with a few of the competitors who are here for an world outrigger race.

FINALLY. I paddled a va'a!! For the last two months, since the Marquesas, we see outrigger canoes everywhere. There is one in every yard, every beach has several, and they are always being paddled through the anchorages. Their elegant lines as they glide through the water make me drool (to say nothing of the mostly fine looking Polynesian men at the helm)!! I've been dying to paddle in one. This morning, I had my chance. A New Zealand girl stopped by the boat to chat, and when she came aboard for a tour, she let me take out her canoe for a spin! It was awesome...not nearly as tippy as I had expected, but very fast. I'll need to practice to get my changes up to speed, but I can't wait to bring one of these home next year :O) Hmmm...logistics.

We discovered the windsurfing spot on the far side of the point, but with the wind raging, the swell was enormous. It would be impossible to get there by dinghy, and very uncomfortable with the big boat. Since there are other windsurf spots ahead of us and now that we'll be home in a few weeks, the intense desire to set up the gear has settled and we decided to save ourselves the bash, and head to Moorea.

Our Position: 17°29.89'S and 149°29.71'W

Birthday Fun

We have been enjoying Papeete. I had a fun birthday lounging around, and enjoying a day without boat chores. We had a fun dinner with the hilarious Licorne crew at the marina restaurant and finished up with drinks in the bar. Tango gave us a fabulous mattress pad, so we're now happily sleeping in comfort for the first time in almost a year (hard to believe we've been living on this boat for a year already)!! What a birthday gift!!

The last few days have been a blur. We've been trying to make arrangements for flights home, doing brightwork, shopping, refilling propane, exploring Papeete, etc. Lots of boats here that we've seen along the way, and many more new faces, so it's been fun to hang out and get to know more people. Most are moving along, and heading to Australia or New Zealand for the cyclone season.

We also stopped into an internet cafe in town and had a chance to check out the blog. Thanks to everyone who has been leaving comments on the blog - we really enjoy reading them!!

Mikey's just arrived, so we're looking forward to lots more exploring and sightseeing, now that he's here.

Happy Canada Day - Leaving for Tahiti

Well, we're off. Almost. Waiting for slack tide in the pass, so we can get out of the lagoon, then we're off to Papeete Harbour on the island of Tahiti. Hard to imagine that we're bored in paradise...but we're certainly having to think about how to keep busy. I've even polished and waxed our cockpit!

The picture above is from the church in the small village of Tiputa, on the other side of the pass. We jumped on a landing craft from a large freighter to get to the village, and took a little water taxi back. Wandering around the village was a nice way to spend a few hours.

Tahiti is 200 miles from here, so it will take us a day and a half or two days to get there. The seas will likely still be rolling, after all this crazy weather we've had, so it won't be too comfortable. But, it will be great to tie up to the dock, check out the city, and enjoy birthday celebrations!

To everyone at home...have a great Canada Day!

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!

The Flood...

Sorry about the lack of blog posts. It's been a busy few days.

Last night, we received news that our home in Campbell River had flooded, as a result of a cracked toilet tank. Sheesh. Thankfully Darren and Ken were quickly on scene to mitigate the damage. Because we have a storage locker in the house with our 'stuff', we were worried that the boxes were all wet, and would need to be sorted and dried out. We quickly booked a plane ticket home for John, and agreed that I would stay behind in La Paz to watch the boat.

Today, we replaced more of the hoses on our head system, and generally got ready for John's departure. We've rented a car to drive John to the airport at Cabo tomorrow, so we also did a huge provisioning shopping trip, and an excursion to Home Depot (yep - even in Mexico) to grab insulation for our poor fridge.

Los Muertos (Bay of the Dead)

Another sunny, breezy day here in the anchorage. We're pleased to be closer to La Paz, and we can see the restaurant on shore, where we plan to have dinner tonight - hopefully with Terry, John's cousin who is visiting here.

We spent the morning fixing the various items that we broke yesterday. The furling line on our main genoa needed to be fixed, and the sail hoisted, and a few other little tasks.

And the head...

When I agreed to this sailing adventure, I did so with the caveat that I had no intention of rebuilding or repairing the head, should something go wrong. And John was true to his word today. He took apart the pump, fixed it, and put it back together again. As a result of the warm, salty water here, scale builds up on inside the pump and the hoses, blocks the flow, and shuts down the system. It needs to be chipped away periodically. John did this marvelously. My hero.

While all this was going on, I tried to stay out of the way, passing along essential tools as needed and spraying perfume around the boat to counteract the wafting odors. When it was complete, I went a little nuts with disinfecting the entire boat.

Finally, it is now mid-afternoon, and we're off to explore the beach. We're considering leaving late tonight for La Paz, but will see what the weather holds.