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PART
I San Blas - Galapagos |
PART
III Society Islands - Fiji |
PART IV Fiji - New Zealand |
PART V New Zealand |
PART VI NZ - Guatemala |
PART VII Guatemala - Home |
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Editor's Note: The following log and pictures are from Cabot and Heidi on their second circumnavigation around the world aboard CHEWINK, their Seguin 49 which Cabot built in 1987 and has sailed 52,000 miles. Starting from Maine in the summer of 1999, the current segment depicts their voyage through the South Pacific from the Galapagos to the Marquesas. If you have questions for Cabot and Heidi about their voyage, or would like to share similar experiences, just click Cabot's Link. |
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CLICK PICTURE TO ENLARGE |
3000 MILES TO MARQUESAS |
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March 15, 2001 We’re off! 3000 miles to go. Some log entries: 1450 - Reef out, wind lighter; nice sailing |
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March 16 1200 - Noon to noon 153 miles light; hard on; SW 8-10 March 17 St Patrick’s Day 0144 - Squalls all night; wind up and down; motoring due south 1500 - ESE wind; we’re off! March 18 0500 - Beautiful sail; clear skies March 19 0500 - Wind down, spinnaker up |
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March 20 1200 - Wind very light 7-10 SSE, 176 miles noon to noon. Best day yet March 21 0500 - Great sailing. Wind SSE 12-14 |
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1500 - More sea than wind, hand steering, saw Frigate bird and Tropic bird. This is ridiculous! Wind around to NW@18k then rain, scrubbed deck. On wrong tack for collecting water. 1830 wind down & motor on 2330 Easterly trades back -motor off March 30 0500 - Fast sailing, wind up and down a lot, ESE 15-20 April 1 1845 - Spinnaker down, wind too squirrelly and variable, motor on |
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| MARQUESAS | |
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April 2, 2001 1200 – We anchored in Atuona on the island of Hiva Oa -what an entrance with spectacular peaks all around! Although we had generally light winds, this was a good trip –3000 miles in 18 days, about 1000 miles too long! The harbor is behind a breakwater and is always unsettled from the swell. This harbor was crowded with eight boats, but we like Atuona as a town. Three weeks later there were twenty boats here! We had forgotten how incredibly stunning these islands are! April 5 Atuona: Strange algae grew on the long crossing. Hard to get off until Heidi tried Clorox. Took tour around Hiva Oa. Very difficult roads. Used Peperu as guide, definitely a Marquesan Nationalist. Knows a lot. Spent a good day with him. Café Kaupe did laundry for us: 5 loads, $7500CPF ($68 USD) April 9 Hanaiapa on north side of Hiva Oa -- still a favorite. Great hiking here to the next valley. Taylor caught a ride to airport. Pouring rain of course. We will miss him, but glad to get boat back to ourselves as well -- a mixed blessing. Met REMORA here with Guy and Chris, a Belgian couple, who we crossed paths with in several places during the next few months. We really looked forward to seeing them with their wonderful sense of humor and ability to converse fluently in both French and English April 13 We motorsailed to windward around the Eastern point of Hiva Oa for a better angle on the wind down to Fatu Hiva, Big squalls all day and we arrived at the Hana Vave in a blinding squall, but that made it all the more spectacular as it cleared. Fatu Hiva is easily one of the top anchorages in the world –simply spectacular! April 14 Williwaws down through the valley kept us up part of the night so we moved into shallower water (we were anchored in 75ft). This was a mistake as the boat lies well in deep water with the weight of the chain keeping the bow steadier in the gusts. April 22 Nine days in Fatu Hiva. What a treat; finally the cruising life has begun. Hiking, diving, working on the boat, etc. We were off to Tahuata. April 29 Taiohae Bay. Even with 50 other boats, it’s still a beautiful place. Surprisingly, Atuona has better supplies. Hiking with other boats and Tracy Smith Taviri, a South African sailor married to Joseph, a great soccer player, hang glider, carver, diver, etc. The two do it all from hang gliding to a traditional umoo (Polynesian clambake). I wish I could speak French better as Joseph had a lot to teach us about Polynesia. April 30 After a couple of days in Ua Huka, we tired of the rolling and wind. This may be one of the best islands with the best carvers, but only in settled weather. Over to Anaho Bay, the best anchorage in the Marquesas on the NE side of Nuka Hiva- the kind of place you could stay forever. No roads into this beautiful valley. Just paths. May 11 Alex and Drew made a grand entrance arriving by helicopter from the airport into the next valley over from Anaho. Not a bad entrance for two 23 year olds. We hiked over the hill to Anaho while Paul from RENEGADE took their bags around in the dinghy. Alex and Drew will be with us for the next seven weeks. May 17 Over to Daniel’s Bay on the SW corner of Nuka Hiva. We couldn’t leave the Marquesas without going to one of the largest waterfalls in the Southern Hemisphere. This is a beautiful valley, but Heidi caught the same allergy as thirteen years ago and her face swelled up. We still do not know the cause, but suspect the skin of the Mangos. We said goodbye to Natalie and Paul on RENEGADE as they are off to Papeete to haul the boat. May 21 Sailed to Haka Hau on Ua Pou. Caught a big Wahu with the new lure. 7 boats bow and stern anchored -- a bit crowded behind the breakwater. May 23 Around to Hakatea for a more normal anchorage. Met Pascal who became a friend as well as a tour guide -- exceptional knowledge and seems to be the local expert of any ancient ruins. We had now visited every inhabited island in the Marquesas and spent two months here. If Alex and Drew did not want to go diving in the Tuamotus we would probably still be there. These islands are so beautiful with such great people it could easily be a long-term stay. |
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| TUAMOTUS | |
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May 25 Off to the Tuamotus with clear skies and light winds that picked up for good sailing right into a frontal area. Squalls all night with some gusty winds, but we made good time to an atoll called Katiu. LAZY JACK whom we have just met sailed a few miles behind us all the way and we tied up together on the quay. Ron and Anna are a great British couple, but Ron had too much Brit in him so he was upset to not be able to catch the 50,000-lbs. American boat just ahead of him. Everyone underestimates the sailing qualities of a Hood "Whale" bottom design. The harbor is in the pass which is very tiny with no room, so we tied up in the middle of the town. By being in the pass, we had incredibly clear water and could see all the fish going back and forth from the lagoon. We hiked for two hours to see where all the workers who disappeared from town every morning were going. . In the middle of nowhere, we found a pearl farm with 70 workers, dormitories, Chinese girls imported to do the culturing, generators, and generally a bustling operation. The manager was extremely nice and very funny possibly quite glad to have some company in this isolated spot. His brother has a similar, but smaller farm in Kauehi. June 4 With freighters arriving we had to leave the dock so we bounced out overnight for Kauehi. Being forced to leave earlier than planned we hove to in the lee of the atoll of Raraka for the night. The full moon allowed us to stay pretty close to the reef. What a shame to give up such a great sailing breeze. Radar still "rules"! June 6 Learned from a Frenchman to forget about waiting for a favorable current in the pass and instead hug the sides and avoid the fierce current in the middle. It works! Kauehi has perhaps the best anchorage of the Tuamotus but we decided to anchor off the village for convenience. It was a surprise to be the only ones there. We made contact ashore with our friends from 14 years ago. The schoolteachers remembered Alex and Drew when they attended school here. Some of the people did not remember us as well as we remember them, but this is still a great village. Pearl farming has changed the prosperity of the villagers. They now bring in laborers from Tahiti and many pearl farms are scattered around the lagoon. The chance for employment and industry in these atolls is really positive. An airport has been built here with one flight a week; this will also change the isolation of these people. The French have done a good job in these atolls creating infrastructure to support employment. |
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June 14 We sailed across to Fakarava from Kauehi; a beautiful day that disintegrated through the afternoon and night. The pass into this atoll is over a mile wide and deep so not much of a problem negotiating it except for the tremendous outflow from inside the atoll, the second largest in the Tuamotus (Rangiroa is the biggest.). These large lagoons can get very rough so the next day we sailed down inside the atoll with 30 knots of wind on our bow to the south end -- a much better anchorage and close to the south pass and some great diving. There are two small resorts (Resorts out here mean one to four cabins!) -- one with a compressor for filling tanks and the other run and owned by a man called Manihi. He turned out to be one of the most interesting people we met in the Pacific. He is directly descended from the old royal family of Tahiti, educated in New Zealand, and has an incredible sense of style.His house is wide open, traditionally built with local woods and palm fronds for aesthetics and practicality decorated in a unique way that makes your mouth drop. One quickly realizes that although he has lived in this isolated spot for most of his life, he is a sophisticated man. Great stories every night as we congregated in his chairs with a bottle of wine. Over the next two weeks we did a lot of diving in the pass, searching for lobsters on the reef at 3:00 AM (Actually Manihi gathered most of them.), helping Manihi move rocks to make a wall, and hunkering down as the wind blew hard for several days. Morgan (my nephew) and his girl friend, Angie, showed up on a small boat from the airport on the northern side of the atoll having made connections in Papeete from California -- something of a miracle making connections all the way through and then thirty miles down an atoll in a strange outboard without a hitch. Alex & Drew TOLD me there was nothing to worry about!!! |
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June 27 Alex and Drew took the plane to Papeete and then on to LA, but first a day’s stopover for Polynesian tattoos. Tattooing is an integral part of Polynesian culture and a real art. |
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June 30 We arrived at Otugi Pass on the south end of an atoll called Toau, easily the prettiest anchorage we have seen in the Tuamotus, picture perfect with beaches and palm trees and only three or four families in the entire atoll. After a couple of days here we were joined by two boats from Australia, another one from New Zealand and BLUE YONDER. The energy level notched up a few degrees as we all did several drift dives in the pass as well as playing Boules ashore every day. The Kiwis and Aussies tend to be experienced sailors with plenty of energy and enthusiasm. It is always fun to be in an anchorage with them. July 5 We left the small harbor of Amyot on the north side of Toau after visiting with two families whom we had known on our first trip. The weather was good for jumping the 200 miles over to Tahiti so we only stayed in the anchorage two days. |
