Finally getting a weather window to depart the Tuamotus, we took it with zeal. It took an hour and a half to motor our way out of our last atoll and into the open waters of the Pacific Ocean where we were able to raise the sails and shut down the old Perkins. For the next 300+ nautical miles we...

The Tuamotu Archipelago consists of dozens of small islands and atolls. The atolls are the primary reason people like us come here. A ring of land and corral with a lagoon inside accessible by a pass or two cut through the ring. These passes often come with a good sprinkling of caution as the contents of the atoll need to...

With only a few days remaining in our time allotted for the Marquesas, we were looking for a window to make the multi-day jump to the band of atolls (aka; The Tuamotus) a few hundred miles further South-West. First, we needed to resupply our food stores as well as visit the fuel situation. Taiohae is a good sized village on...

30 nautical miles to the north of Hakahetau is an intimate, and well protected (finally) cove; Hakatea on the island of Nuka HIva. The wind was still blowing the day we chose to hop islands, but at least the wind would be on our beam for the day. The wind was not going crazy or anything, but it was on...

After the struggle to get our anchor back on the boat, we did make the 140+ nautical mile journey to our next destination with ease. With ideal sailing conditions through that day, night, and the following morning we couldn’t have asked for a better sail. Heck, even the local pod of dolphins came to see us on our way early...

It was time for us to raise anchor to leave the Bay of Virgins and it’s 100 foot depths. This we have done before, and I intended to use the same plan as those other times; run the line through a block attached at the mast, and back up to the other side of the windlass that can haul in...

Restocked and ready to get away from Hiva Oa again, we set out for the short return hop to the island of Tahuata, just to the south. A fairly uneventful sail repeated our path – in reverse – almost to the exact anchorage we had stayed at a few days prior. Looking for something different, we moved on an extra...

We left the north-west anchorage on Hiva Oa to begin exploring the other islands of the Marquesas Island chain. First logical choice was the island just a few short miles south of Hiva Oa; Tahuata. 18 miles from where we had been anchored the past few days. Once again we expected to motor the majority of the way down the...

Getting straight to the exploring as soon as we could, we left Atuona for new adventures to Bay Hanamenu at the north west corner of hiva Oa. It was forecast as a fairly calm day, but after making some water for a few hours before leaving the battery bank would appreciate a bit of motoring anyway. Not that it happened...

We made land fall in the Marquesas Islands. Hiva Oa to be exact. The village of Atuona to be even more exact as it is the only location we can check in to the country of French Polynesia. This means it is also the only place for everyone else who is making their way across the Pacific, and you would...