Good morning!

Still Alive!!!
 (Remember that scene from Croods?, LOL)
We all survived the first night at sea on our trans-equatorial passage!  
It was mostly a beautiful stary night, before the moon rose, the milky way beautifully lit the summer sky and these southern stars, some familiar, some not so much. 
Before midnight, the waning half moon rose... it was almost spooky the way it was shrouded and glowing on the horizon... odd looking & took a minute to identify.   
 On my 12-3 watch we had a nice warm moon-lit sail under a  Polynesian sky.  Our boat speed (even riding heavy with FULL tanks of fuel and water) averaged about 8 knots. I was happy to have winds under 20 mph for most of my time watching the auto helm drive the boat. (Best first mate, ever!!!)

Currently, we sit at 16 hours, 145 miles in. Happily putting some "east in the bank" for we expect to get set to the west in the little latitudes. 
A forecast indicates    that we  will get to the edge of these pressure winds, and things will slow down late this afternoon... we'll see. 

Love and light.
Fair winds,
~e.

On the move!

And before sunset!!
We were getting off the dock around 1500. 
The retreiving the anchor took us some effort and assistance. 
But Yay! We got it clear before the fuel dock closed at 1600!!
Almost got in trouble crossing by the airport, but we managed to get an English-speaking port controller to clear us. 
About to set some sail, and make some tracks! 
(Finally!!!)
Love and light
Fair winds and following seas!!
~e.

Contact & follow us

Our ais (via satphone emails) will drop breadcrumbs and you can follow our progress on this site:

https://www.noforeignland.com/boat/6211132538748928

Notes of encouragement (and other correspondence) can be sent 
via text to the Sat Phone
 808-353-0126
Or via email:
hiva_oa@myiridium.net


Soooo ready to set sail,
Love & light
~e.

Still trying...

Customs? Check!
Immigration? Check!
Bills paid? All but one, Eric is still working... he's on the leaky oil-line job... the repair didn't work. Now he's building a new one?! ((Whimper))
Rigging? Checked.
Hatches? Secured.
Radio check? Meh... hand held works better than the ship-to-shore... so Jeff is occupied with cleaning connections and wiring improvements.

Hoping to get off the dock before 3... (It's 1030 now)

Sent from Iridium Mail & Web.

Sunday, May 30 - Day 26

The weather system from the South blew in Saturday afternoon...
It has been SO HARD to sit here, tied up, when we could have been making tracks.
Aaargh!
But it is, what it is.
Deep breaths.

The diesel mechanic is our least favorite person this weekend. He stopped by for 15 minutes early afternoon on Friday to replace the Injectors and bleed the air. So, Thanks. The engine starts again. Cool. And he declares that there is some blow-by on the Injectors just installed and he'll come back on Monday. What the?! WHAT?!

I spent the next two hours watching the reef fish that live on the coral that's growing on the dock. Very Zen.
Jeff struggled not to loose his cool in his own way.

So... that nice strong South wind blew in, and caused a bit of drama around the marina.
We think we actually slipped our bow moorings... we cannot otherwise account for the 12-18 feet of line we took up on the marina's bow lines.
We actually ran the engines to ensure our stern would stay off the dock. Crazy. Jeff was so pissed.
We remained vigilant and adjusted lines throughout the night whenever the wind intensified enough to wake us.

After running the engines last night, we began an intensive search for possible oil leaks this morning. And found one... a weird little pipe that corroded and needs to be re-"brazed"
Can we get it repaired- immediately?
Hoping so!
Que Será, será.
Love & light,
~e.

Aaarrgh.

No wonder that's the noise pirates are known for... I've said that way more times than I ever expected to (which, tbh, was about zero).
If it's not one thing, it's four. 
Aaargh!
As usual, I exaggerate. But...
(#1) we did not clear customs this morning & we are not setting sail on a promising South wind this weekend.
(#2) Our new sail still doesn't fit right and needs *another* (!!!) modification. However, the local sailmaker, Sebastien, is wonderful, and came out to the boat early this morning.
(#3) it's like a thousand f-ing degrees in this marina.
(#4) we still haven't tested (...or even finished diagnostic testing) the starboard engine.  A week later!!!!
Aaargh!!

Marina Life

Facts about our location.
We are staying on the northeast side of the island of Tahiti, south of the main sea port and south of the airport.  We are on the outermost southern dock of Marina Taina in an area named Punaauia.
We are docked with our aft to the dock and our bow facing the channel. We spend our evenings on the bow, our view is inspiring! 
Across the narrow navigation channel is an anchorage full of sailboats, beyond that the flat water of the barrier reef and the rolling, breaking surf outside, and then in the near distance, spectacular Moorea, misty shores, soaring mountains, cloud-wreathed peaks. And beyond that the sun sets and the southern stars begin to shine through the darkening blue-violet-black.
 
Sent from Iridium Mail & Web.