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!

Tuamotus Here We Come!

So right now we are under way to the Tuamotus. The Tuamotus are islands near
the Marquises and all of them are atolls. We just passed the first atolls
and will be arriving to Makemo tomorrow if we keep up speed (we are going
7-8 knots regularly, but in the beginning of the trip we were going 12-15).
This is our second day sailing and it's pretty calm.
Anyways, since the weather wasn't so great when we planned to leave, we
ended up staying in Fatu Hiva for an extra week, making our stay in the
Marquises exactly one month. While in Fatu Hiva, we did another waterfall
hike with Hipnautical and Mommy and I did a hike up to 'the cross' with a
bunch of other boats in the bay. The waterfall hike was much steeper than
the first one we did, but shorter and most of the path was paved. After
about 20 minutes on a trail where we did lots of climbing and crawling under
things we arrived at the waterfall. Since it had rained the past 3 days the
waterfall was rushing and would send a cool spray all the way to where we
were sitting. We soon jumped in the water and enjoyed the freezing cold but
refreshing water. It was so beautiful and the boys had fun jumping off a
little cliff like thing that you could climb to. After a lunch of Mommy's
homemade mini-pretzels and mustard we headed back to the boats. It was a lot
of fun. The hike to 'the cross' was a much longer hike that Mommy and I did
the day before we left. The hike went up a paved road on a really steep
angle for about 2 hours. Then it flattened out and we could see amazing
views of the bay and village from a little shack type thing with lots of
construction tools around it. We hiked with 3 other boats in the harbor. The
boys (Cole, Robin and Daddy) stayed on the boats to finish school and work
on the boat. Since we had to leave at 5 AM the next day Mommy and I arrived
back on the boat at around 2-ish to have lunch and swim. Finally around 5 PM
we shut down the boat and tried to sleep.
Well, the wind is picking up again, so we just pulled out the jib to get
more speed. We have a bailout island to go to if we go too slow, but want to
get to Makemo since Tigre will be there and we are all excited to see each
other again. Cole and I are doing day watches all by ourselves now and it's
my watch so I gotta go, bye!

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Excitment

Hi everybody. So yesterday was very interesting. Our day started like any
regular day, have breakfast, start school etc. Anyways, Mommy and Daddy had
to go ashore to do something and so they left Cole and I on the boat to do
school, something we do often. While they were ashore some new boats came
into the harbor. We heard them chatting over the radio, and figured that
they would just come in, anchor, and be fine...it was about the opposite.
When the new boat came in, they anchored right in front of the catamaran
next to us. Soon they realized that they had picked up someone else's anchor
and announced it on the radio. A split second later I looked out the window
to see the cat next to us coming straight at us, with no people on board. I
quickly called Daddy (who had a handheld VHF radio) and told Cole to go get
the fenders, which he was already doing. I told Daddy what was going on and
then ran outside to help Cole. Next, our neighbors came over and helped us
out by jumping on the other boat and helping us tie the two boats together
so that they didn't smash into each other. It became obvious that the new
boat had picked up the other cat's anchor. Once we were tied together and
not bouncing together like bumper boats, Daddy, Mommy and Roger on
Hipnautical came over in the dinghy. After our neighbors (the boat's name is
Obsession) told Daddy what happened, what we were doing and what we should
do, everyone started shouting from boat to boat planning what to do. It was
decided that Daddy would, using Hipnauticals' diving gear, dive on the cat's
anchor and try to unhook them from the new boat. Once underwater, Daddy
found the anchor quickly and was above water soon. He then said that the
boats were clear to go and that the new boat should take up their anchor and
wait until we were settled before they anchor again. By now the owners to
the other cat were here and we de-rafted while they brought up their anchor.
Everyone is now in 3 different corners of the anchorage..we are in the back
right, the new boat is in the back left, and the cat we were rafted to is in
the front and center. It was quite exciting! Well, we might go on waterfall
hike tomorrow if the rain stops. It's been raining on and off for a few days
now, and we are anxious for sun. Oh well, the islands are so beautiful and I
think we'll get over it (hahahah). Mommy is making something in the kitchen
and it smells so good! Gotta go, bye!

Happy Easter!

Hi everyone! Sorry that I haven't written in a while, but we have been doing
lots of sailing, school and lots of other things! First, we are now
surrounded by lots of boats. The "Puddle Jumpers" group has arrived and
brought lots of boats with it! Luckily, with the big group came lots of kid
boats (Bravado..11 year old girl and 2 young boys, Hipnautical..10 year old
boy, Whisper..10 year old boy and 7 year old boy)! Cole actually has Robin
on Hipnautical on Zen now for a sleepover. Nice kids. Well, we are now on
the island Fatu Hiva and it is raaaainy! Mommy, Daddy, me, and Robins'
parents just went to a really cool, local dance rehearsal. The dancing was
really unique and a little bit like what we saw in the first island we went
to with all the other people. Okay, I'm getting a bit off track...anyways,
we met up with our friends on Brickhouse for a while and hung out with them
in Ua Huka. After leaving them we went to the island Tahuata. We only went
to one small bay where we met all the kid boats and did a really fun
bonfire. The beach was so beautiful and we didn't get attacked by the
annoying, tiny mosquitoes called "no no's". For Easter Mommy made a really
good alfredo pasta dinner accompanied by some chocolate, nut bars and thin
ginger cookies. After a quick dinner we invited everyone (all the boats in
the harbor) to come over to Zen for coffee and dessert. Everyone agreed and
brought some type of dessert (mostly brownies). After a really fun party
that lasted until 11:00, everyone went back to their own boat to sleep. The
next day was the bonfire. It was set up by the kid boat Bravado, who had
arrived that morning. It was planned to start after dinner at around 6:00
PM. It was so much fun and Mommy brought the bread to roast on a stick like
we did in the San Blas. After playing in the water for a long time with
Robin and Yet (the girl on Bravado) we got back in the dinghy and went to
sleep. Today we sailed to the island Fatu Hiva, it was a 6 hour long sail
right upwind and was pretty bouncy. I read most of the time, but once I
finished my book I went up to the cockpit. Once we arrived we had lunch and
invited some people on the boat next to us to come over (I don't know why,
but Mommy and Daddy just shouted to them across the decks to dinghy on over
if they felt like it). Once Hipnautical arrived (we had sailed here
together) us kids played for a while on their boat. Then, we went to the
dance. It was really fun and I met some local girls. Once it started to rain
(again) we went back to the boat. As we were dinghying back, we picked up
the boys who had been on Hipnautical while we were ashore since Robin is
sleeping over. Well, Mommy's making dinner so I've gotta go, 'night!

Let It Rain, Let It Rain, Let It Rain

"Let it rain, let it rain, let it rain! Oh the weather outside is
rainy.........lalalalala.............."

It rained for almost two days straight! I know that in Newport that can be
very common sometimes, but this is the longest period of rain we have had on
the boat for basically 8 months! We filled our water tanks all the way just
from the rain! It was awesome! Also the past two nights we played Monopoli
(one game yesterday, one game tonight). Our Monopoli board is a New England
Patriots board so it's really cool.
Well, other than all this rain, we swam under the 3rd largest waterfall in
the world and met another kid boat! First I'll tell you about the kids.
There is a family of four onboard the sailboat named Chtimagine. There is a
13 year old girl, Naeva (yippee!) and an 11 year old boy, Nicola. They are
from France, have lived on their boat for 7 years and have never been to a
real school. The family is so nice and will be traveling with us on more or
less the same schedule all the way to New Zealand! They have friends on
board right now who are also really nice (another family of four with a 4
year old girl and 7 year old boy).
So about the waterfall. We were going to hike there with Chtimagine, but
since Cole and I had to do school, they left a few hours before us. After
beaching the dinghy we hiked along a small river for about two hours. Soon
we came out of the woods and arrived in a large, open meadow filled with
small, yellow flowers. The grass came up to our knees and it was surrounded
by tall, flat, rocky mountains. It was beautiful. Daddy said "when I look up
I feel like I'm in New York City made of rock and flowers." Finally we
rounded a coner and saw everyone on Chtimagine swimming in a small pool next
to the waterfall. The waterfall had just a small streem of water flowing
down from the top of the mountain due to no rain, but we still couldn't see
the top. As soon as we arrived at the waterfall I pulled off my sweaty
clothes (we had to wear long sleeves and pants because of the bugs), grabbed
my sandwich and waded knee-deep into the cold, but refreshing water. It was
wonderful. After finishing my sandwich I followed Mommy, Cole, and Daddy
through the pool and over a boulder type thing. Next we were in another pool
covered by the mountain. This was where the waterfall deposited. We all went
and swam under the waterfall, feeling the water pound on our shoulders.
After some pictures we decided to go back. This time we all went back
together. The 4 of us older kids ran ahead and did the two hour walk in just
over an hour. When we got back to the dinghies, we decided to swim in the
ocean while we waited for the parents. It was so much fun!
We are now in a bay called Controller Bay and just finished a game of
Monopoli. We moved here yesterday and since we didn't move again today due
to the bad weather I finally finished my group of tests that I have been
studying and taking for the past couple of weeks (YES!). Well, Daddy is
reading Star Wars to Cole and Mommy is reading a sailing magazine. Good
Night!

Just Sayin' Hi

Hi everybody. Nothing much has gone on here except for a few things.
1. The day before yesterday we moved to a bay called Anaho and planned to
stay there for a while. It was a beautiful bay that was really calm since it
was so protected. While Cole and I were doing school (still studying for a
bunch of tests) Daddy jumped in the water to clean the boat and check the
anchor. Soon he told us to forget about school and "come see all these cool
fish that are swimming around me". So since Cole and I will do anything to
avoid studying (and it was hot) we pulled on our suits and jumped in the
water. We ended up being anchored over and little bit of a reef and had lots
of fun snorkeling with all sorts of cool, Pacific fish that we had never
seen before.
2. We had to move back to this bay since Don had to catch a plane back to
Denver. So yesterday we picked up the hook and came back here. Don left this
morning.
3. At the same time that Don went to the airport, Mommy and I went to a
local's house to get some fruits. The family we went with was really
friendly and the grandmother gave me hot chocolate and a baguette! It was so
delicious. After we had all had our snack, Mommy and I followed a woman
named Bernadette and her 5 year old daughter. When we arrived at their house
they gave us tons of fruit picked right out of their backyard. The family
was so friendly.
4. After we get a package we are waiting for we might go to another island
nearby called Ua Pua. It is one of the smaller islands, but is supposed to
be beautiful and have really good boulangeries (bakeries in French). \
5. Lately I have been playing my piano a lot and are now working on a song
called Prelude. I'm almost finished learning it and it's a really cool song.
Also, Cole has started learning how to play his guitar and once he learns
the notes I have a book of songs that we can play together!
Well that's about it on Zen. We are really taking a relaxing day today
(Daddy is snoring behind me, Mommy is lying out on the tramp and Cole is
probably playing something electronic). We are all going to church tomorrow
to hear the singing that will be performed by the locals for Palm Sunday. I
can't believe that it's almost Easter!! Well, I've gotta go, bye!

Dancing in an Ancient Village

So yesterday at around 11:00 we headed ashore to find the local dance show
that would be happening for the cruise ship that came in this morning. After
asking a few locals how to get there we started up the dirt trail that lead
to the old archeological area where they would be performing. As we were
walking up, a pick-up truck came up behind us filled with the performers.
They asked us if we were walking up to the show and when we said yes they
offered to give us a ride! We said yes and jumped in the truck. When we
arrived we walked around the site while waiting for the performance to
start. After walking across a short bridge made of logs and sticks we found
ourselves wandering around a big open courtyard with different layers of
rocks. The courtyard happened to be the home of an ancient tribe that died
off in the early 1800's. There was three different columns and on each
column there was two to four layers of rock. Depending on your importance,
you were told to live in a certain spot. In ancient times there were houses
on top of the rock layers where the people lived. There was a small statue
on the highest rock layer accompanied by smaller still carvings on two
pieces of wood. We assumed that this was where the priest or leader lived (I
learned about the houses and stuff when we followed a tour group after the
dances for a little while). After exploring a little bit more we walked back
across the bridge and back to the place where the dancers would be
performing. The backdrop by the way, was a huge tree that is over a 1
hundred years old. It has so many thick roots that it looks like multiple
trees put together! Anyways, when we got back to the 'stage' there were tons
of tourists. Much more than we expected to come on a boat. We never saw
their boat, but we are guessing that they came on a cruise ship and not a
little boat like in the Galapagos. Once everyone found a rock to sit on the
dancing began. There were three four men and one woman. They were all
dressed in grass skirts and headdresses and had lots of palm fronds. They
performed the traditional pig dance and war dance. The dancing was
accompanied by the men who were saying/singing chants in a low grunting
voice. It was really cool. When the dancing ended we followed an English
speaking tour for a little while before heading back to the boat. Since it
was about noon, we decided to stop at a little tent with people serving all
sorts of food on the side of the road for lunch. We ended up getting chow
mien and it was really good. Finally, we got back in the dinghy and headed
back to the boat. Since we hadn't seen any sharks in this bay, we all went
swimming before school started again. Once our swim was over we all took
turns showering off the back off the back of the boat. I ended up slipping
down the steps and cutting my back. It didn't hurt and I didn't know that it
was bleeding until Mommy looked at it and said "Okay! Your fine, just rinse
off, your fine, your fine". After having a slight panic attack because there
were a few wasps I managed to get inside. It was really pretty funny. Well,
we are just leaving the bay now and are going to a bay about 30 minutes away
called Anaho. It is known for being a beautiful bay so we are excited to get
there and check it out. Cole is negotiating to watch a movie...looks like
he's watching Nemo. Well I want to watch too, so I gotta go, bye!

Food Food Food!!!

Hi everyone! We are now in a different bay and are having such a good time
here!
After a really nice pizza dinner in the first bay we and went to (Taiohae
Bay) another bay called Hatiheu Bay. It was only a 3 hour motor and we soon
arrived. As soon as we put the anchor down though we were visited by wasps.
Since I just love bugs (not really) I ran inside and immediately locked
myself in by putting down all the screens and closing any windows that
didn't have screens. When I was done I realized that everyone else had
slowly moved inside to avoid the wasps too. Once anchored and settled in
Mommy sat down and said "everyone get your school books!". Before we knew
it, it was 5:00 and time to go over to Carl Linne for drinks and snacks.
After about an hour on Carl Linne we all went ashore to our already-reserved
traditional Marquisan dinner. When we got up to the dock we knew that it was
going to take some effort to get everyone ashore. The dock was cement and
very high and slippery. Also we had to deal with major surge and rocks.
Using the two dinghies we managed to get everyone except the two captains on
the dock. After some planning Daddy and Greg managed to get the dinghies
onto a mooring and then through a line to shore so that they could pull
themselves back ashore. Once everyone was ready we started our walk to the
restaurant. It was a short walk along some dirt roads lined with beautiful
flowers and palm trees overlooking the beach. At the restaurant we learned
that they were already cooking a pig (which they took us to see and it was a
full pig..like head, skin, eyes, everything) and that the dinner would be
ready soon. After a first course of all different kinds of delicious fried
fishes the pork arrived. It was served in handmade palm frond baskets and
really yummy sweet potato. There was so much amazing food! After arriving
back on the boat we fell right to sleep.
It was such an amazing experience and we had a great time. Bye!

Sharks!

So we have finally gotten ashore and seen a bunch of really cool things!
One thing we discovered was that all of the girls wear white flowers in
their hair. The flowers are really beautiful and you can just walk up the
street and pick one off the tree! There are pink, red, white and yellow
flowers all over the place. If you put your flower on the right of your
head, that means you are married, and the left means that you aren't. This
morning Mommy and I picked our own flowers today.
Also, our friends on Carl Linne (who are also here) brought us to a really
nice hotel restaurant. There is even an infinity pool on the porch of the
restaurant overlooking the harbor. We went there last night and had some
really good deserts. We had chocolate lava cake with ice cream and lots of
whip cream! It was delicious!
Oh! I forgot! When we first arrived a nice Australian couple came by to
welcome us to the harbor. They are on their motor boat and have been here
four times already. They were very friendly and gave us some good
information, one of them was 'do not swim off the back of the boat'. They
told us that we couldn't swim here because of all the hammer head sharks
circling the harbor! Isn't that freaky?! Daddy even saw a shark swimming
around the boat this morning.
Well I just finished learning as much French as I can shove in my head and
studying for a grammar test (adjective and adverb fraises are really hard!).
We just restarted school after a two week vacation. Dinner is at the pizza
place tonight! Gotta go, bye!

YIPPEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!

Yippee! We have finally reached land! This morning was the first time that
we could see Fatu Hiva and it is beautiful! It is extremely mountainous and
very green. The whole island is made of mountains and there isn't one low
spot. The coastal area right in front of the town is lined with palm trees
and a rocky beach. There are tall green trees mixed with the palm trees that
weave through the colorful shops and houses. The green mountains rise up
really fast right after the town and are sharp peaks at the top. Above the
island lots of fluffy clouds are hanging there dripping little showers of
rain. At the entrance to the bay there are towers of rock protecting the
bay. As you enter the turquoise/blue water becomes really flat and calm.
Right now we are pulling into the anchorage while experiencing a short sun
shower. It is not as populated as I thought it was going to be, but the
houses are all spread out on the hills and it's really cool. Since the
anchorage is surrounded by mountains the wind funnels in and there is a nice
breeze to keep us cool. This morning was spent cleaning the interior of the
boat and we now all smell like Pine Sol. Mommy is taking all sorts of
picture and video so you will probably see lots of pictures soon. Well we
are just about to put the anchor down so I gotta go, bye!

LAND HO!!!!

Land ho! We have finally spotted a little piece of land. Since the wind
changed a bit we ended up changing our destination to make it a calmer ride.
We are now going to an island called Nuku Hiva (you say it like nookoo
heeva). It is a little farther away than where we were supposed to be going
to, but we will arrive in about 15 hours, 30 minutes and 17 seconds (we
would have already been there if we went to Fatu Hiva). We are glad that the
wind changed though because Nuku Hiva is the main island and is where you
check in. We are also waiting for a package to arrive there. The anchorage
that we are going to has the 3rd largest waterfall in the world! We can
anchor right next to it! I'm so excited. It is supposed to be really
beautiful. For a little bit of background, the Marquises Islands are owned
by the French and part of French Polynesia. They are supposed to be really
tall and mountainous and our populated on almost all the islands. We are so
excited to go ashore and buy fresh baguettes and croissants.

Cole, Daddy and I just finished a game of monkey in the middle with Cole's
hacky sack. It was really fun (other than the part when Daddy whacked me in
the eye with the ball and even that was funny).

We think that it is almost 11:30 at night in RI, but it is only 7:30 here
and we just finished dinner. Mommy made an attempt to make fish tacos with
chips instead of tacos, but it was nothing like what she had hoped to
make....it was so good!! I have been wanting tacos for a while and Mommy
said she'd try to make fish tacos with the tuna we caught this afternoon.
Like I said they didn't turn out to be anything like tacos..more like
marinated fish in a Mexican sauce with cheese and chips. Sounds good right?
For desert we had mini chocolate bars (mini Snickers, Twix, and Milky Way).
It was delicious.

Well, we've got 100.573 miles to go! Bye!

4 more days!!!

Yippee!! I'm so excited to get there! We will arrive in 3 or 4 days to our
destination in the Marquises called Fatu Hiva (you say it like fatoo heeva).
We did a contest today and everyone guessed how many miles we would cover in
24 hours. The winner would be able to pick the movie we all watch tonight. I
won! We were especially surprised though that I guessed the exact number of
miles we traveled, 200! I chose the movie Center Stage. Mommy will probably
watch with me and Don too since he's never seen it before. I know that Cole
doesn't want to watch but I have a feeling that he will. I don't know about
Daddy. We are playing the game again and I kept my same guess since the
weather should stay the same. Who knows what will happen though. Since
there's been lots of wind we have been averaging a speed of about 9 knots or
more (that's really fast for a monohull and a little bit over regular for a
catamaran). We even hit 24 knots when surfing on a wave! Oh, and I'm not
sure exactly, but in the past two weeks I have read 9 or 10 books. All hale
the ebook. I don't know what I would do without my ebook. We are taking a
little break from school, but are starting back up again when we get to
land. Mommy has been making bread the past 3 days and it is so good! We were
sitting at lunch today waiting for the bread to finish and it was torture
since you could smell it from the table. It was so yummy! Well, it's been
really hot here..it's currently 4:30 and 85 degrees. It doesn't really make
sense to take a shower because 10 minutes after you finish you're sweaty
again. I tried taking a shower today and with the boat moving around so much
I slipped and fell 3 times! It was really funny. It's my watch now so I
gotta go, bye!

PS. We are 4,563.656 miles away from Newport if you were to travel in a
straight line from us to there.

More Pics

Hi everyone. Here are a few more of my drawings. Not much has been going on
here lately. The wind just picked up and we should be able to sail at decent
speeds for the rest of the trip. We should arrive in exactly one week (I
hope)!!! Bye!