Raroia – May 18th
This place is why I sailed 3,000 miles! When you look around, you wonder, is this real life??!! Everyone has their idea of beauty, whether it’s the mountains, dessert, ocean, etc. Well, this is my idea of beauty! Sooooo GRATEFUL to have made it here. If you have read our blog, you know that it is no easy task sailing a boat this far!
We have managed to relax a bit over the last couple of days. I know that may sound weird, I am sure it seems like we are just chilling and enjoying the good life all day long. But there is SO much to manage on the boat, and so much to maintain. Sailing 3,000 miles across a rough ocean is downright tough on the boat (and people). There is a lot to repair and maintain such as chaffed lines and worn covers. Fortunately nothing major…
Over the last couple of days we have all had some good naps, which were needed after all our passage making. We have also done some swimming, snorkeling and beach exploring. And we have gotten to know our fellow boaters as well.
There are currently 10 boats in our anchorage. We are at the north end of the lagoon (see photo above). A couple of boats come and go each day, but there is a core of about 6 boats that stick together. Most of the boats that stick together have kids on board. Kid boats seek each other out and tend to stay close together since there are not many of them, and it’s the only way kids can make and maintain friendships. One of the kid boats also has a dog, so we do shore excursions with them so the dogs can play together. So we are a sort of kid boat!
This anchorage is home to the prestigious Twin Palm Yacht Club on the beach (see photo). It’s a make shift picnic area with a sign, some hammocks, a fire pit and a small wooden table. There is also a stake in the ground that people use for splitting open coconuts. The “Yacht Club” is the typical gathering spot for all the boats anchored here. On Tuesday we celebrated Fern’s 11th birthday there, and today is another birthday party for Morgan, one of the dad’s. It’s a great place to hang out, meet other people from around the world and here the story of how they got here. And there are some CRAZY stories!
About 1/3 of the boats we meet are from the US, and the others are generally from Europe. We have met several boats from Switzerland, Sweden, the UK, France and Spain. I am surprised how many from Europe made it this far. All the Europeans have crossed the Atlantic, sailed the Caribbean, transited the Panama Canal, then sailed 4,000 miles to the make it here. So all these boats have easily sailed 10,000++ miles and are very experience cruisers.
A Typical Day
So what the heck do we do on a typical day?? That is a really good question! I normally wake up early around 6, make some coffee and do some prayer time. Then Danielle gets up and we do breakfast which usually wakes Dawn up, and we all have breakfast together.
After breakfast we will turn on our Starlink to get internet. Most of the boats here connect on Whats App instead of using the radio. Other boats have more power generating capacity than we do so they leave their Starlink on all the time (more on power later…). In Whats App there are conversation threads on what people are doing that day, such as wind surfing, kite boarding, snorkeling or going the beach. If it works we will try and nose in on one of their activities. Two days ago Danielle got to do some wind surfing along with some excellent instruction from one of the moms.
Once we line up an activity for later in the day, we then will do some boat work. Everything from general clean up, to making water, doing minor repairs, cleaning the boat bottom, doing laundry, etc.
We also have to spend time doing normal life stuff. When we have the internet on we can make phone calls to family, handle bills, follow up our car insurance changes, update cell phone plans, etc. Normal life still goes on our here!
The afternoons are when we do our activities. Catalina LOVES to go a shore and explore the beach and palm forests. She has become quite comfortable in the water and will go in on her own. Catalina is truly living here best life out here!
On Thursday night we had a couple from a Swedish boat over for dinner. They sailed with us when we did on passage from the Marquesas to here (Raroia). We got to know them on the radio and on Whats App, so it was nice to hang out with them in person. Like most of the people out here, they have very interesting lives with lots of great stories! We really enjoyed our time hanging out with them!
This anchorage is FAR better than what we had in the Marquesas. First of all, its several degrees cooler here both in the air and in the water, which makes us all much more comfortable. The water is also much calmer so the boat moves around a LOT less. There is also a consistent wind blowing that allows us to open the hatches and keep the boat cool. It is really nice! That being said, the last couple of days (and for the next two days) we are getting more wind and cloud cover than we had a few days ago. The extra wind causes wind waves that are not huge, but still move the boat around and make the dinghy rides wet. We are looking forward to the sunny skies again (which also help us generate solar power!)
As soon as the wind settles down a bit, we will head off to our next destination, the atoll of Makemo, which is about 70 miles away.
