Land Life in New Zealand

Hi everyone!

Sorry that it's been so long since my last blog, but we've been busy getting settled here in New Zealand! We are already in a house in one of the suburbs near the main town/port here, Whangarei. It's so beautiful....it's green everywhere with lots of cows and sheep. 

About two weeks ago, when we sailed into New Zealand, it was morning, and we pulled into a marina called Marsden Cove. As soon as we tied up to the dock, customs and immigration people came on board to check us in. After about an hour of official stuff, we were ready to go to the 'Town Basin', which is where we would sit until Zen was pulled out of the water. The Town Basin is a very protected harbor that is at the end of a river that goes into Whangarei. Thanks to our new friend Ian, we were at a dock right next to town. The town is really cool, and after being away from real civilization for 18 months, this is pretty cool. So anyways, we were at the town basin for about 4 days while we looked for a house to rent while Zen was getting worked on. Finally, we found a home only a few minutes away from town. Then, a few days ago, Zen was pulled out of the water by a crane. I wasn't there, but I saw pictures and it looked pretty cool. There were two straps that were attached to the crane and were hanging in the water. Mommy and Daddy then drove Zen into the straps so that she was floating directly over them. Then, once everything was secure, the crane pulled upwards and Zen came out of the water. She is now sitting in a shed, getting prepped for the work that needs to be done. She'll be painted, the sails and canvas work will be changed and we are working on finding some new material for the inside cushions and chairs. 

Anyways, right now Daddy and I are sitting at our dining room table enjoying high speed Internet while Cole finishes up school. We plan on going to a zip-lining/outdoor adventure place later today once Cole is done. It sounds really cool! Tomorrow I have ballet class at a new studio that I just joined last week. I'm having a great time and the kids and teachers there are really nice. Also on Monday, Cole has his second karate class in New Zealand which he is enjoying too. Then, on Wednesday we go to Sydney, Australia to visit friends, and explore the big city for a few days. We'll only be there for 4 days, but our schedule is already packed with something to do everyday. It should be fun! Once we get back from Australia, we'll only have 2 more weeks until the Barkmans come to visit us for 10 days! While they're here, we are going to rent two campers and drive around the South Island (or Southland as it is known down here). It will be quite interesting driving on the wrong side of the rode, sitting on the wrong side of the car, and shifting with the wrong hand (am I doing what I think I'm doing?)! Then, after the Barkmans leave, we'll stay in a hotel for two days before we fly out to India where we will visit our family. Then on December 10th, 11th, 12th, or 13th (not sure which), we leave India and live on a plane for two days.........................until we arrive back in RI!! Yup, we're pretty excited for all this traveling. The only problem is that we will have to cram in as much school as possible before all of this excitement starts so that we will finish before September of 2010! Well, I think that I'm going to go enjoy high speed Internet...bye! 

New Zealand Here We Come!!!!!!!!!!!!

Okay, so today is the two-days-before-arrival-to-New Zealand mark! I can't believe that we are so close...I guess that after knowing that this is where we wanted to get eventually for my entire life, it's a little exciting, overwhelming, but still sad. It's exciting because we're finally gonna get there and NZ is supposed to be amazing. Also, it is the first first-world country that Cole, Daddy or I have been to for 8 months. It's overwhelming because, as I said, I've known, for my whole life, that our family dream was to sail here..and now we're here. I don’t really know how to explain it. Last, it's sad because it is the end point of our sailing life in the Pacific. Anyways, when we get to NZ (in  2 days!!!), we'll move into an apartment in the middle of Whangarei so that the boat can be hauled out of the water, painted and have some other jobs done (such as re-doing the interior cushions, and moving fuel and water tanks around). After settling in, Cole and I hope to find a karate dojo and ballet studio where we can take classes for the two months that we will be in NZ. I've found a studio already, but I don't know much about it. Well, right now we are going about 7.5-8 knots with a full jib and a reefed main (reefed means that we haven't put up the whole sail because there is strong winds...don't worry, we often reef and conditions right now are good). The waves are a bit big...8-10 feet, but since we have been on passage for about 4 days, we are used to them now. Lately, I've been learning a lot about meteorology (the study of weather and its patterns) because of the unusual weather between NZ, Tonga and Australia. It can sometimes be tricky to find a nice, long 'weather window' (or period of time when there is good weather to make a passage), and you could get stuck in high winds. Lucky for us, we are in the correct month for good weather, are a fast cruising boat and have a good meteorologist on board (Daddy). We found a good weather window that suits our speeds and carries us to the exact place we need to go. Also, we communicate with Commanders Weather, which is a company in the States that predicts weather for cruising boats like us. They are very helpful and have pointed us in the right direction many times. Another thing that we had hoped for and gotten, was to have a few other boats sailing with us. Right now we have about 5 other boats on our same path with whom we talk with on the radio every day to check in and see how everyone is doing. Well, other than that, now that we are going south to where winter is still going on, the climate has gotten colder. It's about 69 degrees inside the boat now, but outside it's a bit colder because of the wind. At least we will be more prepared for the New England winter that we will throw ourselves into this upcoming Christmas! 

 

Dive Tonga

Wow I haven't written a blog in a long time! So many things have gone on.
First, there was the Vava'u Regatta. Vava'u is the name of the group of
islands we are in right now. Anyways, during the regatta we participated in
all sorts of activities that were held (kids day, corn hole tournaments, and
a race). It was really fun! Then at the end of the week, Ami and Rick on the
boat Tara Vana came to stay on Zen for a few days. We met them in Cartegena,
and since they were back in the States for a little while, they had some
free time to come and visit us in Tonga. They aren't really sure whether or
not they want to sail across the Pacific themselves, so apart from visiting
us, they were able to understand what the Pacific is like. We had lots of
fun, and Daddy, Ami, Rick and I went on some awesome dives together. On one
of the dives, we got to go into a really cool little air bubble about 50
feet below the surface. It was just a little cave underwater, but if you
went up to the top of it, there was a little spot where you could take out
your regulator and breath regular air! It was so cool and the water in that
one spot was really warm. At the end of the 10 days that Ami and Rick were
with us, they went back to town and stayed at a hotel for a little while to
experience land life in Tonga as well. When they were in town, we explored
many of the 'outer anchorages' where there are no people. All of the
anchorages are really amazing. Right now we are in a little bay called
Manamita with our friends on Dosia and one other boat that I don't know.
It's just a little, protected lagoon surrounded by a reef. Today, while the
adults went snorkeling and Cole and I did school, we all saw a couple of
huge humpback whales breaching right outside the reef! I've never seen
anything like it...the whales came diving out of the water and, as if in
slow motion, fell back into it sideways. It's so cool to watch the whales
play. Also, even though you would think that something so big would make a
really low sound, their 'songs' are actually really high pitched. Sometimes,
while we are swimming, you can hear them. Anyways, I'm just so amazed at how
fast the trip has gone! We will be in New Zealand within the next three
weeks depending on the weather. A few days after we get there, we will move
into an apartment so that Zen can get hauled out of the water to get some
work done (we're repainting the hulls and redoing some of the interior
stuff). Well, Dosia is here so I've gotta go, bye!

Asian Feast on Zen

August 31: So right now we are underway to another anchorage where we will
meet up with Bravado, but last night we had an Asian feast on Zen with Brick
House, Flashback and Dosia. There was delicious food; rice noodles with
vegetables, chicken and a sauce on top...traditional Indian dhall and
rotis...3 fish curry and a pineapple, banana and Nutella spring roles. But
anyways, I'll start from the beginning: When everyone first arrived, and was
just settling down, Jeff on Flashback looked out the window and said 'oh
shoot'! Margie on Dosia also looked out and said 'Hey Julie! Your boat's
floating away!'. We all ran out onto the back deck, and sure enough,
Flashback, the big boat, was floating away. It's anchor must have broken
free from the sand, dropping off the ledge that the boats were anchored on.
So the guys went out to save Flashback while we started setting up dinner.
Luckily they got the boat back and safely anchored. We all had a really
delicious dinner, and everyone lived happily ever after. The End.

Cocpaw Goat Island

September 1: So I bet you are wondering what Cocpaw means. It is actually a
mixture of the two words coconut and pawpaw (papaya), and is the name I gave
to an island that Mommy, Daddy and I just explored. It was pretty small, but
had lots of cool trails to explore. So Mommy, Daddy and I (Cole was doing
school) went ashore to the little, uninhabited island and started to
explore. When we first arrived, we walked into the center of the island
where there were a few trees and bushes, but looked as though it had been
burned from a bonfire. We saw a bunch of coconuts on the ground and so Daddy
went to try and break one open so that we could eat and drink the meat and
water in the center. Because coconuts are really hard, and have an extremely
strong outer coating, we were unable to break it open without a knife, but
settled with taking a bunch and putting them in the dinghy for later. The
next thing we discovered (much to Mommy's delight, and not much to mine) was
a pawpaw tree. It was a smallish tree, but still had multiple pawpaws that
were easy for us to grab. We also took about 6 of those and put them in the
dinghy for us and our friends. Not seeing any other treasures around us, we
decided to try and circumnavigate the island. We started on the beach,
walking along the sand and broken bits of coral, completely dry and happy.
But the road started to get a little rough and we eventually found ourselves
in mid-thigh deep water, walking on the slippery coral beneath us. We were
still having fun..everything around here is an adventure. On our left side
was a wall, about 10 feet tall, of coral/rock that had been beaten away at
by the waves. We soon came to an opening that you could climb up through and
get to the land part of the island. Daddy climbed up first and surveyed the
area. I couldn't see him from below, but he said it looked like there was a
trail that we could follow. So Mommy and I climbed up as well and followed
him. There was a goat trail (there was goats on the island so it really was
a trail made by goats) and we followed it to the other side of the island
stopping every once and a while to look out to sea and try to spot
whales..we didn't see any sadly (there was a whale watch going on and we
wanted to participate..we had spotted one whale earlier that day, but were
hoping to see another). Soon we came to a small, but slanted hill that went
down to the beach..where we had hoped to get to eventually. So we slid down
the hill, trying not to get covered in the soil that would easily stain our
clothes. Back on the beach, walking to the dinghy, Daddy saw a goat. It was
a big goat with big horns. "Well this guy is worth taking a picture of"
Daddy said. Whistling a little bit, Daddy coaxed the goat toward us so that
he could take a picture. As we started to walk away, Mommy came up behind us
and also started whistling at the goat. Well, he came right onto the beach
and started to come at us slowly. When we started to walk back to the
dinghy, he followed. Okay, so when you are being followed by a goat who's
back is at your waist and has 2 foot horns with pointy points, you tend to
look behind you a lot when you are walking. Daddy realized that the goat
would't come near the water. Well, I ran for the water. Upon reaching the
dinghy, the goat started to rub his head against it. "He's going to pop the
dinghy!" Daddy said as he grabbed an oar to whack the goat with. Anyways,
Mommy got the dinghy in the water while Daddy fought off the goat with an
oar. It was scary at the time, but hysterical when I think about it now.
Well, we just arrived back into the main harbor and the sails are coming
down..gotta go, bye!

Cart Tours

Hi everybody! So August has been a crazy month so far, full of birthdays and parties (happy birthday Lolly!!!!!), and we haven't had dinner on Zen since we have arrived in Neifu, Tonga. Also, there being lots of adult birthdays, Cole, Jet and I have been babysitting for the two boys on Love Song. It's really fun, and the kids are really funny. Anyways, yesterday was Allen on Love Song's birthday and they planned a cart tour around the island. The carts were little, open go-carts that fit two people each. Daddy and I rode in one (the one that turned off every 20 feet) and Mommy and Cole rode in another (the newest, shiny yellow one with no problems). Dosia, Wayward Wind, and Flashback also came with us. The majority of the tour was on back paths that cars wouldn't drive on. We stopped at 4 different places, each with it's own unique scenery. The first stop was on top of a huge cliff overlooking the ocean; the second was a beach; the third was another cliff where we saw tons of huge bats; and the fourth was a little cliff that overlooked the ocean and waves crashing into a really amazing reef like structure. The roads we drove on also had all different scenery. One road was paved; another was dirt surrounded with plantations; another was also dirt surrounded by tall, green trees and jungle; and the last was still dirt road surrounded with pine trees and small bushes. It was so cool! On the way back from the last stop, the guide said that Cole and I were allowed to drive. So we both climbed into the drivers seats and took off. At first I was hesitant, but at the end, I felt much more comfortable and was having tons of fun. When we got to the main road, we had to go back to the passenger seats, but the two little kids on Love Song got to sit in their parent's laps and drive with them. We got lots of pictures and had a great time. So today we are going to head off to another anchorage and lunch is coming up soon. Gotta go, bye!

Apia, Samoa

Hi everyone! Sorry that I haven't written a blog in so long, but we have
been busy. So we left Western Samoa yesterday, but I'll back up and tell you
about the tour that we went on.
So we woke up at around 7:30 and were down the dock, ready with bathing
suits and snorkel gear at around 9:00. Daddy had found a tour guide that had
a van and was willing to take Flashback, Karma, Qayak and Zen on a tour of
the island. He also agreed to take us to lunch at one of the hotels and to a
few places where there would be some cool activities for us to do
(snorkeling in a trench, swimming at the base of a waterfall, sliding down a
rock slide, etc.). The tour started as a drive around the town explaining
the history of Samoa and going by a few historical or interesting places.
Some of it was interesting, but after 3 hours of it, Cole and I were bored.
Before heading to lunch, we stopped at a view point where you could see half
of the huge island below you. It was amazing..it was like a big green
pattern of farmland and rainforest. Then we piled back in the van/bus and
started driving (in the now pouring rain) to a hotel on the beach for lunch.
Lunch was chicken curry with rice...mmmm. Because it was kind of cold, warm
food tasted good. Our next stop was the 'trench'. When we arrived it was
still drizzling, but it was warmer so we all got out and headed to the
little stand where you payed an entrance fee. The trench is a big hole in
the ground that goes down maybe 60 feet. So we climbed down the ladder and
jumped into the surprisingly warm water. Daddy had brought his mask in with
him and started snorkeling around looking for anything cool. He soon found a
place that you could swim through. After going through once, he informed us
that you just had to swim for about 10 seconds underwater before you popped
up in a cave. Once in that cave, there was another ledge, about 2 feet wide
that you could go over or under and lead you to the ocean. It was really
cool and after Cole went I also went through. After going through another 2
or 3 times, Mommy told us that everyone was waiting in the bus...oops! So we
scrambled back up the ladder and back into the bus. Sadly, we didn't get to
go to the spot we had been looking forward to most (sliding rock), but it
was still fun.
We just arrived in Nuitoputapu..an island off of Tonga. It was a short
passage from Apia, Samoa, but both Mommy and Cole were seasick. Also on this
passage we passed over the International Date Line!! That means that August
10th turned into August 11th! There is also a time difference, but only an
hour and I'm not sure if that's backwards or forwards yet. Well, Mommy is
cooking a big lunch since we are always hungry after a passage (normally, we
don't eat much on passages since it makes us sick so we are always really
hungry once we arrive...most cruisers call passages diets..haha) and we are
going to start the audio book 'The Secret Man'. Gotta go! bye!

Hey! We Know You!

So yesterday we arrived into Neifu, Tonga..one of the bigger groups of
islands in Tonga. When we pulled into the anchorage we were amazed at the
number of boats. It was almost like one of the anchorages in Panama! There
is almost constant traffic on the radio and there are currently two boats
pulling in and one leaving. We were told that there are about 22 common
restaurants and probably more. But most importantly, almost everyone we have
met in the Pacific is in this anchorage. Yesterday, starting about an hour
after we arrived, Cole and I swam, or dighied over to our friends' boats and
caught up with each other for the rest of the afternoon. I was so happy when
I saw Jet on Bravado! I haven't been with a girl my age for a month or two
now and we spent a lot of time swimming, laughing and talking. It reminded
me of the times when Kak and I catch up with each other! It was her 12th
birthday on the 19th, but since we missed it, she is having her party later
today. It's going to be just girls...I'm excited! Yesterday was Kathy's (on
Love Song) birthday, so a bunch of the adults in the anchorage (including my
parents and Jet's parents) went ashore to celebrate her birthday with her at
one of the restaurants. Since she has two little sons, she asked if Jet and
I wouldn't mind babysitting. Of course, we said yes. Morgan is 5 and Wyat is
3, so we watched 'Milo and Otis' before they went to bed. Once they were
asleep Jet and I talked for a while. It was fun. Also last night, Cole slept
over on 'Monkey Feet', a boat that we met in Panama and haven't seen since.
He had a great time too. Well, Mommy and Daddy are ashore right now taking
care of some boat stuff and Cole and I are on the boat finishing up our day
of school. Gotta go! Bye!

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Solar Eclipse

So we had planned to leave today, making yesterday the 'goodbye day'.
Anyways, we were saying goodbye to the couple on Karma around dinnertime and
just happened to be on their top deck. Everyone forgot that there would be a
solar eclipse, but we were just then watching the sunset. All of a sudden,
the sun started to split into two pieces..what was happening? Then Daddy
said: 'The solar eclipse is going on right now!'. It was so cool to watch
the sun slowly disappear beneath the horizon in two different pieces. Then,
right as the last of the sun went below the horizon, a green flash happened!
A green flash is when you see a tiny bit of lime green flash out from where
the sun had just set. It was especially awesome because, since there were
two suns, there were two green flashes. Anyways, when we woke up this
morning, there was no wind and we didn't end up leaving. Instead we took the
whole anchorage to another island here called 7 Islands, for the day. It was
a beautiful spot with amazing snorkeling and a sandy bottom. We all played
on the two kayaks that we had for a while before going to shore to see the
whale bones. So the bones were really big and you could sit in one of them
like it was a chair! In one spot there was a whole chain of bones put
together like pieces of a puzzle (on my way to the bones, I ran into a
tree). Finally, after a delicious pizza lunch made by an Italian couple that
came with us, we headed back to the main anchorage. Because the sun was in
our face, and the visibility of the water wasn't so great, I got to hang out
on the spreaders and look for shallow spots. We are now on a mooring and
prepared for the 2 night trip that starts tomorrow at the crack of dawn.
Well, I'm gonna go read..bye!

Cruise Ships in the Cooks ???

So today, we woke up in the morning to find a huge cruise ship called the
Paul Gaugin approaching Suwarrow. This was expected, since the cruise was
planned last summer and the family ashore warned us that they would be
coming. Even so, the cruise ship was so big compared to our small boats and
so tall compared to the palm tree height island, it just didn't seem
possible that it could be here. Luckily, the draft of the cruise ship was
too deep and it couldn't come into the lagoon, but the ships' 300 passengers
would be. Their plan was to bring all of the people ashore via a smaller
boat, and then spend the day here. The family ashore were still quite
confused on what they were supposed to do..are they supposed to give them
lunch and tours..are they supposed to act like Indians and go flying around
in the trees with paint on their faces? Well, we were hoping that they were
going to host a big dinner on the ship and invite all the cruisers (we would
of course say yes, but the chances of that happening were small). Anyways,
when the first tender was spotted we all scrambled to the binoculars. It
turned out that the ship was only bringing some supplies to the family, and
telling them (much to the family's relief) that: 'Because of the big waves,
we are not going to be coming ashore..instead we are going to be leaving the
island in the next hour'. Well, after days of cleaning and preparing the
island, they just left supplies and went..that's not so bad! So, soon the
cruise ship was no longer in sight.
Anyways, the boys on Whisper are over on the boat now and are playing Legos
with Cole, the couple on Qayak just left (they brought us M&Ms'!!) and
Mommy is making what smells like a delicious lunch. I think that I'm going
to go and make a bracelet..bye!

Scooters on Aitutaki

This was written earlier in July-So we are now in the Cook Islands at an
island called Aitutaki. It's a small island surrounded by a beautiful blue
lagoon with very shallow waters and few boats. A few years ago the TV series
'Survivor' was filmed here. Anyways, we left Bora Bora on the 30th of June,
and after a bit of a bumpy passage (3 days with 12 to 25 knots of wind and
15 to 20 foot seas), we arrived in the pass of Aitutaki on July 2nd. Because
we arrived at around 6:30 pm, we had to drop the anchor in the most
convenient spot for the night before the sun went totally down. Dosia was
already here, and helped us put down our stern anchor before coming over for
a delicious chili dinner cooked by Mommy. The next day we went ashore to
check in and explore a little. Once we were cleared, Margie and Drew on
Dosia took us to the scooter rental place where we got two mopeds to explore
the island on. Margie and Drew already had a scooter and had explored the
island a little before us, so they gave us the tour of the small island
ending with a yummy dinner at one of the local restaurants. On the fourth of
July we had Dosia, and another boat, Big Air over to Zen for dinner. It was
really fun..we watched some funny parts of a movie that Dosia brought, and
JP, a single hander on Big Air brought over some amazing home-made garlic
bread. The next day (my birthday!) we stayed on the boat the whole day and I
practiced playing my flute that I had gotten as one of my presents. On the
6th, we took a tour around the lagoon with a few other couples from hotels.
The lagoon was so beautiful and there were areas where you could walk in
waist deep water for a really long time. My favorite spot was a big sand bar
in the middle of the lagoon surrounded with deeper water, where we jumped
into off the top of our tour boat. After relaxing on the sand bar for a
little while we went snorkeling in the place where huge oyster shells were
grown..they really were huge. Finally, we went to One Toe..I mean One Foot
Island where we had a delicious lunch of fresh fruits, vegetables and fish.
Finally, we got back on the boat after 3 hours on the island and headed back
to Zen. A few days later, we went to one of the resorts to see the coolest
fire and dance show that I have ever seen. There was a really yummy buffet
with all sorts of traditional foods, and then a crazy fire show with about
10 people swinging around fire on batons. It was amazing. Before the fire,
there was a short dance show and Cole and I were invited to dance.

This was written on July 17th-So after a few more days in Aitutaki, we left
on a 2 night passage to Suwarrow. Suwarrow is an atoll that has not been
touched by man, and is a Cook Island national park. A family of 6 (the
parents have 4 boys ages 8 to 13) are the park rangers of this atoll and
help to preserve the wildlife in Aitutaki. They are really friendly and had
every boat in the anchorage come to their open air home for a potluck dinner
last night. It was really fun, and Cole and I played soccer with the 4 boys
ashore and the 2 boys on the boat Whisper. There are many sharks here, but
there are only black-tips in the anchorage and you don't really have to
worry too much about them. But on the other side of Anchorage Island, the
main motu, the boys feed black-tips, white-tips and grays. It's been raining
all night, but it looks like there is sun now! Being closer to the Equater
than Aitutaki, we are getting 82 degree weather again, which feels really
warm compared to the 75 degrees that we were in only a week ago. Well, I'm
going to go read..bye!

Suwarrow

So after a few more days in Aitutaki, we left on a 2 night passage to
Suwarrow. Suwarrow is an atoll that has not been touched by man, and is a
Cook Island national park. A family of 6 (the parents have 4 boys ages 8 to
13) are the park rangers of this atoll and help to preserve the wildlife in
Aitutaki. They are really friendly and had every boat in the anchorage come
to their open air home for a potluck dinner last night. It was really fun,
and Cole and I played soccer with the 4 boys ashore and the 2 boys on the
boat Whisper. There are many sharks here, but there are only black-tips in
the anchorage and you don't really have to worry too much about them. On the
other side of Anchorage Island, the main motu, the boys feed black-tips,
white-tips and grays. It's been raining all night, but it looks like there
is sun now! Being closer to the Equator than Aitutaki, we are getting 82
degree weather again, which feels really warm compared to the 75 degrees
that we were in only a week ago. Well, I have a bit of a fever today, so I'm
gonna go read..bye!

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Bora Bora..the Land of Hotels

So we are now in Bora Bora, and have discovered that it is the land of
hotels having at least 20 of them. When we first arrived we were amazed at
the beautiful hotels with their over the water bungalows (yes, they are over
the water) and crystal blue waters. By now we have seen many of them, but
are still marveling at the Four Seasons which we all (the four boats in the
anchorage) went to dinner at a few nights ago. It was amazing and we had
really good Pad Thai which we hadn't had in a long time. Anyways, we first
arrived in Bora Bora a week and a half ago at the Bloody Mary's restaurant.
Apparently this is a famous restaurant that many famous people have gone to!
I did know this until I saw the two walls full of famous names. After
spending two or three nights there we moved to the Bora Bora yacht club and
stayed there for a week where we enjoyed wonderful live music at the yacht
club and dancing and yoga classes at the nearby Pearl Hotel (a sister hotel
to the hotel that we stayed at in Taha'a), where we met the spa manager.
After ordering a needed spare part from the States, we moved to the opposite
side of the island to wait. Here we met up with a few of the other cruising
boats that we had been trying to find for a while. We are now anchored
in-between two hotels: the Four Seasons Resort and the Saint Regis Hotel,
with the boats Flashback and Karma. A few nights ago (when the boat Dosia
was still with us) Mommy invited over the other three boats for a really fun
potluck where we had a really yummy dip for chips and bread, vegetable and
chicken spring roles, some cheesy popcorn, delicious risotto, chocolate cake
with vanilla frosting/sauce, and some really delicious apple cinnamon roles.
We had a great time! Well, Daddy is over on Karma helping to clean the
bottom of their boat (it's a big bottom to clean!), Cole is finishing
school, Mommy is doing laundry and I'm going to go play my piano. Bye!

Haul Out...Move In

So we are currently in Raiatea staying at a beautiful hotel called Le Taha'a. No, we didn't just see the hotel and leave Zen sitting at anchor. Zen is now sitting on the hard getting painted and worked on while we enjoy air conditioning, TV, and comfy beds in our 3 room beach bungalow. Not bad right? First, I'll tell you about the haul out. So we arrived in Raiatea after a 12 hour sail from Moorea, and anchored right next to a small 'motu' in about 6 feet of water. It was beautiful and we could see straight down to the bottom as if the water was 2 feet deep. Due to an emergency haul out (another boat lost a rudder and had to be hauled out before us since they couldn't steer), we stayed at anchor for an extra day or so, enjoying our peaceful anchorage. When we finally got called on the radio by the marina, we set up lines, and prepared ourselves for something we have never done...this is not your regular haul out. Step 1: We drove Zen up to a ramp where divers tied lines from Zen, onto a platform below us to make sure that the boat wouldn't move. Step 2: After we were secured tightly, the platform moved up a few inches, on what looks like a big, fat railroad, so that our mini keels were resting on the platform. Step 3: Some final checks and tightens were done, to make sure that we wouldn't move. Step 4: The Big Move...the platform then moved up a steep, concrete ramp, so that Zen was completely out of the water. There was only one little thing that freaked me out a tiny bit: we did a 'test run', and tried to pull the boat out of the water twice. The first time that we tried, Zen did a wheelie, and our bows, from the keels up, were completely out of the water, making the sterns dip really far down...it was quite interesting. Anyways, we are definitely enjoying life at Le Taha'a. We have our own bungalow on the beach, and look out over a beautiful, blue lagoon. Well, I everyone has decided that we are going to have a table tennis contest...I better go practice, I'm sure going to need it! 

--
Camo

Stingrays with Grace

So we are now in Moorea and have been here for only two days. When Mommy was
on the plane on her way back to Tahiti, she met a girl and her mom. The
girls' name is Grace and she is two weeks older than me, and her mom's name
is Maelisa. They are really nice and live in California. They have been to
French Polynesia 20 times and have gone to the Hibiscus Hotel in Moorea
every time. Grace and her mom are now friends with the owners and took us to
the hotel restaurant for free. Grace is really nice (Sylvie-she's a lot like
you!). Anyways, when we met up with Grace and Maelisa, they told us that we
should really dinghy over to this place on the reef where we could feed
stingrays. We thought that that sounded awesome, so we all piled into the
dinghy and took along some tuna to feed the rays. When we arrived there were
tons of rays swimming around the dinghy. Grace just jumped in and started
swimming around. It took me a few minutes, but then I jumped in too. After
we all got used to the fact that we were swimming with, petting and
sometimes kissing stingrays, Daddy started to dish out the fish. As soon as
the tuna hit the water, the rays went crazy and started smashing into each
other to get the food. When they discovered that it was gone, they went to
every person and bumped into them as if to say 'do you have any food?'. It
was so cool. Soon the rays found out that Daddy was the one with the food.
They would bump into Daddy and push their open mouths in his face. Then
Daddy could just drop a piece of tuna in their mouths! It was so much fun.
We could just stand in one place and the rays would come up to us and allow
us to pet them and play with them! Soon we got cold and had to go back to
Zen. That night we went out to dinner with Maelisa and Grace at the hotel
restaurant. It was delicious! Well, gotta go, bye!

Tour Tahiti

So a few days ago we went on a really cool tour around Tahiti. We got up at around 7:00 and went ashore to play soccer for a little while with Liam (12 years old) on the boat Flashback. Liam and his dad are visiting for a week, so normally there aren't any kids on Flashback. After playing a really fun soccer game for about an hour, we walked to the gas station to wait for our tour guide to come and pick us up. Soon we saw our truck coming. The truck was a pick-up truck with seats and a pull back roof on the flat back. When we got on the bus we met our tour guide Allen and three other people on a boat called Song of the Sea. Anyways, the tour started out kind of slow and we were just driving down a paved road, but when we turned onto a dirt road with tons of potholes, I knew that it was going to be fun. The first stop was a view point where we could take pictures of the amazing views of a huge waterfall and beautiful green mountains. After that Allen drove us to a river where you could swim and jump from rocks. The water was really refreshing and cool. It was really fun trying to swim up the current in the river and touch the rocks at the opposite end. After everyone was back in the truck, we got back on the road and headed for a waterfall. While on our way to the waterfall we went through rivers, over rusty, old bridges and past lots of cool flowers and animals. When we arrived at the waterfall, we all put our suits back on and hiked for about 5 minutes to the river. Once at the river, Allen told us that there were some natural slides that we could go down. At first I didn't want to go, thinking that the slides were going to be super tall and freaky, but after some encouragement I followed Daddy and Cole. The first pair of slides were small but fast. The slides were just like water slides at a water-park, but made of rock. The first slide you go down shoots you down from one pool to the next and flips your feet above your head when you meet the next pool. It was really fun! The next slide was a bit longer and shot you into a shallower pool (Daddy liked this slide because if you sat in the small pool right below the slide, you get a shoulder massage). Finally, we got to the biggest slide. 'Yikes!' I thought, 'this slide is straight down and bigger than the other ones!'. After watching a few people go down, it was my turn. I sat at the beginning of the slide looking down and telling myself to let go. All of a sudden, I accidentally slipped and went shooting down the slide...it was so much fun!! I climbed back up with Cole and went again. When I got back down we had to leave, so we all climbed out of the river and got back in the truck. The next place we went to was a hotel in the middle of a inactive volcano called Tahiti-Iti. The view was amazing. It was really cool to be sitting in the middle of a once active volcano while eating steak-frite (steak and french fries). It was a great meal followed with coffee ice cream. So after lunch, we made our final stop at an archaeological site like the one in the Marquises. The difference though, was that at this site, people had recreated what it would have looked like years ago. It was really cool and we got to see the ancient carvings. When we finally got back to the boat it was 11:00. The tour ended at around 5:15, but since we went to a restaurant, we arrived much later. The tour was so much fun!!

Tahiti

Hi everyone! Sorry I haven't written in a while, but we have been busy! So we are now in Tahiti and are getting used to full on civilization again. There is a really nice marina, a big anchorage and mooring field packed with boats, a busy airport with big planes, a huge grocery store called Carrefour, Internet, laundry, hotels, and tons of restaurants. Crazy huh?! A few days after we arrived, the wind picked up and, since we didn't have a great anchoring spot, had to go to the marina for a few days. It was nice and we were next to Carl Linne. Then, after finding out that you could sail down to another anchorage in Tahiti and watch a Billabong surf competition, we left the dock and headed down to that anchorage. When we left the anchorage, there was close to no wind and we had to motor sail. Then the wind picked up and we could sail with no motors. All of a sudden, like a wall hit us in the face, we had 40 knots of wind on the nose with seas and had to turn around and go back to the first anchorage. Not wanting to go back to the dock, we anchored in a shallow area of the anchorage right behind a hotel. Mommy left a few days ago for Florida because of Nanna. After falling and breaking her hip, Nanna is in the hospital and has taken a turn for the worst. Well, other than that, everything is going well. Our friends on the boat Love Song are here and we might go by their boat today or tomorrow to hang out with the two little boys (3 and 5 years old) and their two dogs. The day before yesterday (the 14th..Mommy left that night) was Cole's birthday and we celebrated with homemade chocolate cake and a huge breakfast. Also, on Mothers' Day, we went out to one of the restaurants at the marina and had some really tasty pizza. Yesterday we went sailing on Carl Linne  when they tested out their new spinnaker. It was tons of fun. We got to sit up on the nets on the bow of the boat that are attached to the bow sprit. I think that there are some pictures on my parents blog of us on the nets. For the next week or two Cole and I are doing testing in homeschooling. Thankfully, this is the last group of tests for me for 6th grade. Daddy is ashore getting fuel for the dinghy, and Cole is playing with his new local friends on the dock..I'm the only one on the boat. Well, it looks like it's going to rain so I've got to shut the hatches..bye!

Tahiti!

So the day before yesterday we left our friends on the south of Fakarava and
went to the north to prepare for the passage to Tahiti. (We had fun weaving
our way through the uncharted buoys after going through the amazingly
charted pass.) Once there we met up with a boat called Wayward Wind who we
took pictures of while passing them in the Marquises. After a delicious
dinner of quiche and French fries (I know..they really go together), which
was a treat since we haven't had French fries for a really long time, Daddy
pulled up the weather and realized that this anchorage was about to get
really choppy. So, we changed our plans and decided to leave for Tahiti the
next day. If we didn't, we'd be stuck in Fakarava for another week, which
would not be good because we have a reservation to haul out in Raitea.
Anyways, we left yesterday morning and started praying for wind. During the
beginning of the passage we had no wind, well unless you call 0.2 knots wind
that is. Then last night we were able to put up our sails and cruise along
at around 8 knots before the wind died right before I went to bed. Finally,
when I woke up this morning we were able to turn off the engines and sail at
9 knots using the wind of a squall behind us. Soon we were able to see
Tahiti, a big mountainous island that is a lot like Grenada in terms of
population and commercialism. But unlike Grenada, Tahiti is just a newer
version of the Tuamotus. It has a small reef around it and the mountains, in
millions of years to come, will eventually sink into the ocean, forming an
atoll. So the Marquises are just mountains, the Tuamotus are just reef and
Tahiti, Moorea and Raitea are a mixture of both! Well, right now our plan is
to go and anchor right off a hotel like we did in Antigua and stay there for
a few days to chill, and provision before heading off to meet our friends on
Blue Dawn in some other anchorage. We should be going through the pass
around 5 tonight (1 hour from now) and then anchor down at around 5:30,
6:00. Well, I'm on watch so I've gotta go, bye!

5...10...20...Sharks!

So a few days ago, our friends on the boat Bravado arrived in the anchorage
and last night Yet slept over! It was really fun. The day before, all the
kids went to the beach for an hour or so and then everyone went over to
Bravado for dinner. While on Bravado we played a really fun guessing game
with Yet and her brothers (Hein is 9, Eltjo is 6) until their mom served a
really yummy risotto with chicken. Finally, just as we were about to leave,
Yet and I asked if Yet could sleep over that night, and everyone said yes!
When we got back to the boat it was almost 10, so we went to bed after
laughing while having a pillow fight. The next morning we were all up at 6
and talked about books while Mommy made pancakes for breakfast. After
breakfast everyone had to do school, so Daddy brought Yet back to her boat.
Around 11:30, everyone said that they wanted to snorkel the pass, so we
postponed school for a little while and went over to Bravado to pick up the
kids (the kids, Mommy and Daddy went in our dinghy since it was more
powerful and would carry more people easier than there's) and their parents
followed soon after us. Once at the pass we all put on snorkel gear and
jumped in the water. The first thing I saw was three sharks, one grey and
two black tips circling below me. It was really freaky, but so cool. Soon we
had counted over 10 sharks and there was still more in front of us. When the
sharks became too curious we decided to go back to the boats for lunch. As
we left the current picked up and started to go out so it was a fast and
furious ride back to the boats...lots of fun. Well, we are now just chillin'
on the boat. Cole and Daddy are watching videos that we took on the video
camera and Daddy offered to take us scurfing later...sounds good to me! I'm
going to go watch the videos too..bye!

Flyin' High

Hi everyone. Sorry that I haven't written in so long, but we arrived in the
Tuamotus a few days ago, making our passage 2 days long. The first Tuamotu
that we went to was called Makemo. It was one of the bigger atolls, with a
width of 40 miles. Oh, so if you are wondering, an atoll is basically a reef
that surrounds a big lagoon. A long time ago, there was a big, mountainous
island where the lagoon is now, but slowly, the island sank into the water.
Anyways, we stayed there for a while and met some new people on a boat named
Migration. They were a really nice couple, and the guy, Bruce Balan, is the
writer of one of my favorite books, Buoy! It was so cool to be able to talk
with a children's book writer! Well, they have been in the Tuamotus for a
few seasons now and were heading backwards to the Marquises. A day after
they left, our friends on the boat Tigre, who we met in Grenada, arrived
from the Galapagos. We hung out with the girls for a few days before leaving
yesterday. Now we are motoring to the main atoll called Fakarava. I'm not
sure how big it is, but I know that it is the main port for ships and other
big cargo boats to go. Fakarava is also known for its amazing diving, so
Daddy and I plan to dive there in a few days. Anyways, we left the main
anchorage in Makemo yesterday and motored up the lagoon to an anchorage
closer to the pass. While sailing through the lagoon, though, you have to be
very careful. There are little reefs that will pop up out of nowhere if you
aren't careful. So I got the idea of going up the mast to look for the
'coral heads'. It was really fun. I got out the bosons chair and Daddy
lifted me up just below the spreaders (spreaders are poles that come out of
the mast). Cole wanted to come up too, so he got out the air chair and Daddy
pulled him up right next to me. We had lots of fun looking for coral heads
and swinging around the mast. It felt like flying. So soon we arrived in the
anchorage and decided to stay the night there and then leave the next day at
2 PM. So today at 2 we picked up anchor and headed for the pass. This time I
went up the mast again, but using the air chair which is more comfortable.
Since the sun was directly in our face it was hard to see the coral heads,
but luckily we made it to open water without hitting anything. When we got
to the pass the water was at high slack, meaning it was just hitting the
highest of high tides and there wasn't much of a current. Although there
wasn't big waves, I was moving around more than I was comfortable with up so
high and was glad when Daddy brought me down. The pass was very easy and
followed what the charts said to the inch. What a relief! Well, I'm going to
go to bed so that I can be up early tomorrow morning. Bye!

PS. I heard that it was 90 degrees in RI....that's an easy 10 degrees hotter
than it is here!