Author: kerri

Dear F&F,

June 29, 2010

Aitutaki Diving

We had a lovely calm night inside the lagoon. What a pleasure to be still!
There was a bit of rain in the early morning. We got up early to get out our
dive gear & put fenders out so the dive boat can get close for gear transfer
without damage.

The Health Inspector & Agriculture Inspector (2 different guys) showed up
just as the dive boat arrived. It was great because they knew we were
already in wetsuits & needed to be on our way. I managed to hide my
contraband meat/few veggies without discovery. He did paw through my trash,
but did not find anything to protest. A few forms filled out. Fees of $20 NZ
dollars paid to each (about $14 USD). We got to take our Quarantine flag
down & are fully official. We asked where we can dispose of our trash & they
told us, so all is on the up & up now.

Scott took the video as it is the easiest rig to swim with. Sadly the
visibility was not great, partly due to damage/sand covering the coral from
Hurricane Pat in Feb. And plenty of the reef-eating Crown of Thorns
starfish. I gave them the evil eye, but kept my distance. Divemaster Onu
(company name = Bubbles Below) says he kills them by the hundreds, but he
has clearly not got the upper hand. We saw one large Napoleon wrasse & one
Triton Trumpet mollusk, which are two of the main predators that eat the
C.O.T. The reef is not pretty. Very monochrome, rubble looking. What the
C.O.T. does to a reef is the equivalent of strip mining on land. There were
fewer fish than the last 2 islands. I\’d always rather be diving than just
about anything else, but the sites we went today were very mediocre. The
coolest thing was the \”ghost coral\”. It\’s brown, touch it and it turns
white in sections, then back to brown.

The water visibility was murky in many places & a FULL 3 DEGREES COLDER! I
may have to switch to my dry suit soon! I know that sounds ridiculous, but
when I am submerged at 80 degrees for 2 hours per day my core temperature
goes down. Fine for a few days, but if we do multiple days of diving in a
row I will have to switch suits. Today I felt cold but not miserably so. A
nice warm pee helps you toast up. This probably sounds absolutely grotesque
to you non-divers, but you that dive have a knowing smile. Besides rinsing
all our gear in fresh water at the end of the day, we use white vinegar &
lavender scented fabric softener to counteract any residual effect.

The 2 other divers were Honeymooners. Nice couple from S.F. that met on
EHarmony 3 years ago. They were dive novices but did fine. The dive master
took her up to the boat ahead of the 3 of us whose air lasted longer. She is
a dietician at a hospital. He works for Intel, so lots of good conversation
all around. They are staying at the fanciest resort here, good for them!

Finger Report: Sloughing skin area enlarging. I taped it loosely for
protection but cut the tip of that finger off on my dive glove. No pain with
diving.

It is time to think about dinner. Eager to hear the report of the day from J
& N + kids. I think their plan was to tour the island via rented bicycles.
Not sure if we will dive or take tomorrow off. Time is very fluid now… No
whales seen or heard. Any day we hope.

Cindy & Scott

Dear F&F,

June 28, 2010

Aitutaki – Pass Entry

Scott & I made another depth test run of the channel via dinghy into the
harbor. We did not intend to make the passage today, just heading to shore
to check in with Customs & Immigration. But we could see it was a rising
tide & using a lead line (a piece of string, marked every foot, with a piece
of lead to make it hang down straight) for confirmation of the dinghy\’s
depth sounder, we felt we had an opportunity. The wind speed was 17-20
outside the reef, but once we entered the lagoon the wind decreased to only
11-14 knots. The sun was shining which really helps see bottom contour:
shallow sandy areas & coral heads vs. deeper, safe water. We seized the day,
zooming back to “Beach House”. Scott dropped me to help make her ready to up
anchor, while he went & picked up Dale who has been anchored outside the
reef in his monohull for 5 weeks. Dale volunteered to lead us in with our
dinghy since it has the depth sounder.

Jerome already had his anchor up & was on his way to the pass with his
dinghy trailing. Sadly we did not get our dinghy line cast off quick enough
(or move it to the side out of harm’s way), so the starboard propeller cut
the painter (name of the bow line we use to tie the dinghy to the big boat)..
This meant Scott had to strip & jump in quickly to make sure no piece of the
line was fouling our propeller. We were lucky, it was a clean cut. The
propellers were both clear. Using both engines makes maneuvering much, much
easier.

Jerome took the lead on \”Na Maka\”, followed by Dale in our dinghy, and Scott
drove “Beach House” perfectly along the half mile or so, tricky course. Once
inside, each catamaran anchored bow and stern because it is a small space &
no room for swinging on one anchor. I could easily swim to shore, although
the water is not pretty or appealing for swimming. But it is a super fast
dinghy ride to the cement wharf with a dry landing. It is SO MUCH CALMER in
here!!! I was \”on watch\” last night, not only because my sleep rhythm got
disrupted by our 2 day passage, but the strong wind & choppy sea state
outside the reef kept the boat lively & noisy at anchor. I will not have to
use seasick meds while we are in here – hurray!

Once secure, we went to the Customs & Immigration office & learned the fees
to stay here, quite reasonable. We did not connect with the Health Dept yet,
so are still flying our yellow \”Q\” flag, designating that we have not been
completely cleared. Some countries & islands are extremely officious about
this & for good reason. They do not want foreign vessels to introduce
non-native species. But we were told that here they are quite casual & it
was ok to come to ashore.

We know for certain they will not allow us to keep any fresh fruit or
vegetables. No problem, I don\’t have any! I do have onions & garlic, but
have already scoped out that they can be bought here at the little market,
so if Agricultural Control wants to confiscate those, they can. There is
some uncertainty about frozen meat. Consequently I put all meat in the guest
cabin freezer then disguised it with blankets, cushions, camera gear &
shopping bags. They would have to be quite thorough to catch it. Food is
very expensive here, similar or more expensive than Tahiti with a very
limited selection. The next cargo ship is not due for over a week.

The gas station is a short walk from where we tie up the dinghy & the
mini-mart attached has a nice supply of NZ wines. The main market, oddly,
only had Australian wines. The Cooks are administered by NZ, so we can only
imagine that they are sold out at the market of NZ wines. We had a taste
test between the Aussie & NZ sauvignon blancs & it was no contest: NZ tastes
better to us. Scott is returning to buy all the Giesen on the shelf & ask if
more is stocked.

There is a notice posted on a public bulletin board advertising a tour of a
farm with produce for sale. We got a local cell phone card & pre-paid
minutes. Local calls are about $1 USD per minute. We walked looking for a
lunch spot, but nothing is close to the wharf, so we returned & ate aboard.
Hope to scope out the veggie scene.

Generator Report: We spent ALL DAY yesterday running the diagnostic tests &
replacing parts we have. Scott reported the lack of results to the tech in
Florida & he is sending a new Digital Diesel Control to Mike who will ship
it onto Rarotonga for us. It is basically the electronic brain of the
generator.

The helpful gal, Pitonga at Air Rarotonga gave us an address where our parts
can be shipped for \”Beach House, Yacht in Transit\”. Mike in Redondo Beach
should have the parts tomorrow. He will send them DHL to Rarotonga which we
expect to take 7-10 days. We will decide once the parts get that far, if we
will have them flown on to here, or if we will fly to pick them up
ourselves. We have been considering flying to Rarotonga from here anyway. It
is not a great place to go by boat, but might be an interesting 2-3 day
excursion by island hop plane. The fares are high, about $500 round trip per
person. But we will probably never go there otherwise & it is supposed to be
beautiful.

Competing Dive Operations: Bubbles Below never replied to our email, whereas
Neil Mitchell of Aitutaki Scuba did. But Onu (head of B.B.) answered our
radio call when we first arrived & gave us good info about the entry pass,
when we could not raise Neil. Today when getting the cell phone stuff, we
met Onu & he seemed like a perfectly nice chap & Dale on the monohull gave
him thumbs up (needed help getting his anchor unstuck from a rock). So we
decided we will start diving with Onu tomorrow. We will rip through a 10
tank dive package in about 2 1/2 days (2 tanks each x 2 people). If we don\’t
love our experience, we can try Neil next. We were up front with Onu that we
had already been in email contact with Neil. These small island politics are
kinda crazy, but you\’ve got to play the game the best you can.

Onu said they saw humpback whales at fairly close range just 2 days ago. It
is the beginning of the calving season, so we hope to have more & more whale
sightings. He was also honest that between the Crown of Thorn starfish &
hurricane Pat, the coral here is sadly quite dead or distressed. Sad. There
are some turtles & eagle rays, so we\’ll check it out. Have to bide our time
until we get our generator parts, so we may as well dive!

Finger Report: Great regret that I sanded my callous/scab. Now raw & sore
with white patch re-appearing. Drats! Will have to see how it tolerates the
compression of diving. Plan to cut off the index fingertip on that glove to
reduce the squeeze.

Weather: It is lovely with 10 knots of breeze and 80 degrees.

Cindy & Scott

Dear F&F,

June 26, 2010

Aitutaki – Outside of Lagoon

I think I fared better than Scott overall on the passage. Besides the
scopalamine patch, I took anti-seasick meds 2x/day. Lucky for me they all
work with minimal dry mouth side effects. So I rotate between Bonine,
Phenergan & Cinerzine (given to me by Mazatlan sailor friend, Sandy). Drank
lots of water. Kept a full belly. Got plenty of catnaps even when on watch.
Not exactly a high traffic area, so safe to doze 15 minutes.

Aitutaki (eye-two-tock-ee) has a \”high\” part (124 meters, so about 410 ft)
plus a fringing reef with several motus (islets). We have been in email
contact with dive master Neal plus several cruising boats that say you can
enter the lagoon at high tide. We missed it by about 2 hours this morning.
Each foot of water under the hull really counts. In many places it is only 2
feet deep at low tide.

Pros of Anchoring In the Lagoon: calmer, less boat motion & noise. Closer to
shore.

Cons: Very shallow, must watch that we don\’t swing over a shallow spot & go
bump (day or night). Further in dinghy (or pro dive boat) to the dive sites
– all outside the reef).

We are currently anchored outside the reef. It is a bit bumpy as the wind
does not want to reduce from 20 knots. “Na Maka” (sister ship with Jerome,
Natalie & 3 kids) are here too. There is one other boat: New Zealand farmers
that bought a boat on a whim and have been here 5 weeks. They have 5 grown
kids & 13 grand kids. It is only a 5 hour flight from Auckland so they have
been anchored here, outside the reef, with a parade of family visiting them..
Their boat draws too much to go inside. Monohulls usually have a deep keel.
We can bring our dagger boards up & skim over water on 4 ½ feet deep but we
certainly prefer more.

Dale ,(s/v Further) kindly went with Scott & Jerome on an early run just
after we anchored the big boats. We all decided we\’d missed today\’s
opportunity. Next high tide is 9:30 pm, negotiating the pass is not a
maneuver we want to do in the dark.

My first shower after we anchored was delicious. Had not bathed in 48 hours
since the starboard bathroom is toward the bow & dances the most with big
seas. Risky business. Scott hosed the salt off “Beach House”, sent the
position report, hung our laundry in the shower then we both had a nice nap..

After lunch, both Jerome with family & we went ashore in our dinghies.
Dumped trash that we\’ve been stowing for 20 days. There was no place to dump
it on Mopelia, out last island & Jerome discouraged us from adding to the
local trash fire pit. Port authority office here is closed until Monday, so
we are not officially checked in, but Dale who has been here 5 weeks thought
it would be fine to go ashore. We forgot our ATM card, so Jerome loaned us
some local currency (from the ATM). The one market we went to has pretty
meager supplies. Eggs cost about $4 USD for a dozen but I was so happy to
buy them. No NZ wines, only Australia which seemed odd to us, because The
Cook Islands are administrated by NZ. Minimal produce: onions, potatoes,
eggplant.

They drive on the \”wrong\” side of the street, mostly in mopeds &
motorcycles. One enormously fat chap stopped his motorbike when we waved him
down to ask about the lay of the land. Pretty funny after a year of French,
to encounter Polynesians who now have a New Zealand accent! He was very
helpful & kind.

Apparently they got hit hard by Cyclone (hurricane) Pat in February, so
almost all the fruit crops got wiped out & many trees are denuded &
buildings with roofs ripped off.

The cargo ship from NZ only comes 1x/month (next due in about 10 days). But
there are at least 6 planes per week from Rarotonga. We met a couple from
Arizona who were here for 5 days. They loved the snorkeling but could not
rave about much else. Well, that\’s what we\’re here for – the diving. So as
long as we don\’t starve life is good.

We did a \”test run\” many many times with the dingy on how to enter this
lagoon at high tide. We decided to wait until we can get more info, probably
Monday. One dive operator did come back to us via VHF when we first arrived,
but it was NOT Neal who is the one (of 2 dive masters) who has been in email
touch with us. Neal had written us that he monitors Channel 16 24/7 but we
have not roused him on several tries. We aren\’t savvy to what small island
politics are going on here. We aren\’t partial to either operator, just would
like to arrange to dive & get more info on how & when exactly to enter the
pass. We weren\’t sure if we are on the same time zone as Tahiti, but we are
(three hours earlier than Los Angeles).

Tomorrow morning plan is for Scott to pick up Jerome at 8 a.m. & run the
entrance in our dinghy at what we think is high tide. We have a depth
sounder with digital readout. On today\’s test run, I read out the depth
constantly while Scott drove. Felt like an auctioneer: Low 4s, hi 3s, mid
4s, hi 4s, hi 5s, blah blah blah. I am calling out the depth in feet while
he is trying to dodge coral heads & shallow spots. We did this test at low
tide. High tide is nearly 2 feet higher.

If I\’m not too seasick out here, I don\’t need the added stress of going in &
risk bottoming out. For Jerome with the kids it is better that they can get
to shore to play every day. We know whichever dive operator we go with will
pick us up on our boat, so it does not really matter for diving. Only reason
to go in is for comfort/more calm water while at the anchor & we have to
weigh the risk/rewards. We also did have the idea to fly to Rarotonga if we
felt we could safely leave the boat here. But this is not essential, just an
idea.

We enjoyed one of my \”cooked in Tahiti\” meals (frozen chicken mole with
brown rice & green beans) & a bottle of red wine, so life is good. We have
plenty of chocolate too.

It will be SO lovely to sleep all night. Scott enjoyed the 60% lunar
eclipse, but I got the sunrise which was gorgeous. Red sky in the morning,
sailors take warning & all. To my eye it went quickly from red to gold. I
got the \”Land Ho\” reward which is always fun.

Tomorrow, besides trying to get more info about negotiating the lagoon pass,
maneuvering safely once inside & where to anchor, mostly Scott will run the
suggested generator tests, so we can determine if we need parts or not. We
are hoping there is a loose wire somewhere, but poor guy will have to
contort down into the locker before he learns more

Cindy & Scott

Dear F&F,

June 22, 2010
Martha Stewart of Sailing
Mopelia Day #18

Tuesday morning a boat came into the pass & anchored amidst the 4 of us here in Mopelia atoll. We were quite surprised that any cruising boat would venture here with the weather we have been having. This was not just any Joe Blow cruiser. They are professional mariners who run a business & had 6 clients onboard their 45 foot monohull. They had already sat extra days in Bora Bora with the bad weather. And had to skip Maupiti because the entry was not passable due to big waves. So here they came, to Mopelia. This is a 3 week \”cruising experience\”. The passengers pay for a hands-on learning adventure & get a taste of high seas cruising life. Because they have only a 3 week itinerary, at some point the captain has to decide to press on, even if the weather isn\’t ideal.
The owners have been here 8 times, so are very familiar with the narrow entrance.

We recognized the name of the boat: Mahina Tiare III. Small world story on multiple levels:

#1) The captain/owner is John Neal. He is 9 months older than 56 year old Scott. In 1975 John published a book of his adventures & mishaps as a young, inexperience sailor traveling from S.F. to Hawaii on monohull named Mahina. Book title: \”Log of Mahina\”.
Scott read this book in 1976 as he made his own maiden Pacific crossing from Santa Barbara to Hawaii. He enjoyed this book of sailing follies as he followed (nearly) in John\’s wake.

#2) John\’s wife is Amanda Swan Neal. I bet nearly every American cruising woman with a galley owns Amanda\’s book: The Essential Galley Companion. Good marketing to include the word \”essential\” in a book title! Under the title it says: Recipes and Provisioning Advice for Your Boating Adventures. I bought this book probably before we took delivery of \”Beach House\”. I have perused it, not read it cover to cover. There is a lovely photo of Amanda on the cover with a white hibiscus behind her ear, smiling in a floral dress as she threads a skewer. So, in my mind this is THE Martha Stewart of boating. Look attractive and maintain a sunny attitude, all the while whipping up a tasty meal in a small space with limited supplies. THE Galley Goddess.

#3) John wrote an article about the shipwreck here that Scott downloaded when we had internet in the last island. A lot of good information.

#4) John & Amanda keep a condo in Friday Harbor, WA. He is American, she is from New Zealand & she grew up as a \”cruising kid\”. They run their sailing instruction/charter business about 8 months per year & have been doing this for over 20 years. They have had more than 1000 clients!
They use the same bookkeeper Tracy McClintock to collect their mail & do other business for them, as we do. The Mahina Expeditions business office is in the same building as Tracy\’s. We saw the name on the door when we originally flew up there to meet Tracy. They are probably her most famous/prestigious clients (that we know of).

Scott welcomed them to the lagoon via VHF radio and we were stunned (horrified) to see 8 bodies roaming the deck of a boat less than half our size! OMG!!! John is nearly as tall as Scott, seemed friendly & approachable. Indeed, shortly after their anchor was set, he zoomed over in his dinghy to say hello. I got to the stern first & introduced myself & welcomed him to come aboard. He declined because he needed to shuttle his crew ashore. I asked him how the conditions were outside: 30-35 knots with a \”confused\” swell of 3 meters. Yikes! Interpretation: Godawful uncomfortable conditions that most sailors would try to avoid being caught in. He asked me how long we\’ve been here: 18 days. He seemed shocked & asked if we needed fresh bread. We aren\’t eating bread these days, but I know that the family of 5 would be happy to have a fresh baguette. Or solo Bernard who will be sitting here waiting another 2+ weeks for another boat to deliver him a new battery. His is kaput. I\’ve been giving him rice & yogurt.

Scott quickly came outside & told John of all our connections listed above. We explain our Mission Statement: We are a DIVE BOAT that sails in search of the next great dive site. When Scott mentions that he is an underwater photographer & we have many videos & photos, John sees a \”field trip\” opportunity for his crew. He said he would have to ask Amanda, but after tour/slide show aboard \”Beach House\”, would love to have us aboard their boat for dinner. Dinner Out 2 nights in a row??? I could not believe my good luck. But Martha Stewart coming to my house…I better start tidying up!

Actually we really wanted to go ashore first while the breeze wasn\’t too strong & go look at the windy side again, to compare it to yesterday\’s conditions. As we are passing Mahina in our dinghy, John waves us over. The invitation is extended officially & I meet Amanda for the first time. Well, it should not have been a surprise that she is looking a tad more bedraggled than the photo on her book cover. With shorts, tank & a hat that makes me laugh out loud: \”Out of Chocolate – Life is Crap\”.
This is definitely the cynical flip side to the \”Life is Good\” tagline. Her kiwi accent is charming, but she has sharp edges. Not smooth & poised like Martha Stewart. Example: I ask her, \”How was your trip?\”
She answers, \”Fine. Most of the crew were seasick so they weren\’t a bother\”.

We ask John if we should offer drinks aboard our boat (I had already made extra ice & calculated I had enough gin & tonic to offer one short drink per guest.) He says No, they are a dry boat. Well, that makes a lot of sense. You can\’t risk people not being alert while on watch etc & it\’s only 3 weeks anyway so no great hardship. Terrific! We can focus on the tour & video show. Scott & I strategize that we will each take 4 people on tour, then when the sun goes down show 3 videos plus a few slides. Voila!

We have a nice walk ashore. The place we walk across the atoll is reminiscent of the Galapagos. Volcanic rocky reef, dry scrub brush. The wind strength is down a bit, but the breaking waves are still quite impressive and help us decide to wait two more days leave, in order to allow the wind whipped swell to calm down.

The great thing about having company (ESPECIALLY someone I view as a Martha Stewart equivalent) is that it provides a strong impetus to clean house. When we return to \”Beach House\” I get in a 1 hour nap, which has become a new delicious habit since my index finger vs starfish incident. More rest needed to heal perhaps. I then have exactly 1 hour to spit & polish. Hiding things I normally let lie about. Scott is testing the audio visual system. It is 5:30 p.m. and they are loading their dinghy. I have pulled out my Amanda Swan Neal cookbook for her to sign & only feel a twinge of regret that it still looks brand new. At least I have a couple of post-it notes stuck in, marking key pages for \”Passage Preparation\” and \”Pressure Cooker Bread\” (nope, never tried it).

CREW of SIX:
1)Single guy from Vancouver in his late 20s comments that I am wearing Lululemon label yoga wear. The company was started by a friend of his – cool. I am flattered that a man under 50 notices me!

2&3) Married couple from Long Beach who own a boat & plan to leave for Mexico in about a year. She is the only other woman aboard, besides Amanda.
4&5) Man from New York with 18 year old (godson?) family friend. It is a High School graduation present. He will be attending college at Puget Sound University.

6) Married man whose wife will not let him buy a boat because she does NOT want to go cruising. This is his 8th trip with Mahina Tiare.

The \”divide & conquer\” method worked very well. Scott & I each had roughly 4 people at a time, avoided crowding any space by maneuvering them bow, cockpit, port, starboard & salon/galley. Timing worked very well as the touring was done just as the sun set, which made for better viewing of the computer screen. I chose the video/slide sequence & Scott acquiesced to my suggestions.

Videos: #1 Whale Shark, #2 Fins of Bora Bora, #3 Manta Magic
Followed by: about 30 slides of the shipwreck here and another 30 slides of sea life here & on the last island. Perfect. They\’d had enough, those who were enthusiastic took our cards & may subscribe to our website. It was about 7:00 p.m. & time to go to their boat for dinner, to keep the evening moving along. We took our own dinghy plus a couple of their guests to help balance the load.

I have hosted many more elegant dinners, but not for a party of 10. Just getting everyone\’s belly full is the main goal. I tried to chat with her a bit as I cleared the table & she began the dishes. Scott & John swapped more small world stories & the other guests joined in. I had set my watch to beep at 8:30 p.m. & that was just about right to take our leave. They already have 8 people to get showered & settled for the night. Two of the single men sleep on the seats where we ate dinner! I was quite tired, but content to return to our spacious \”Beach House\”, counting my blessings that we are not required to take crew for pay in to afford this lifestyle. John & Amanda MUST love it to do it for so long. Like I said, she is a salty dog & he seems a big teddy bear, so they probably make a great team for teaching & introducing newbies to the sea.

Today they and the red boat left. \”Mahina Tiare III\” planned to anchor just outside the pass to let their crew snorkel over the shallow parts of the shipwreck then proceed to their next destination (different than ours, but same general direction). They asked us if they could make our website a link to their website, & took photos of us on our boat, so I suspect we will get a few more subscribers through them. It would be fun to cross paths again. Which is possible as they will return to New Zealand in December, which is our plan also.

More stories about Bernard, Jerome, our generator, etc but need to wind down for a last full nights sleep before 2 days/nights full moon passage. It should be a great sail. Hopefully our patience with the weather has paid off. For sure it has given my fingers time to heal. I can do many more things than even 2 days ago. It seems that time has taken on new dimensions: only 8 days of diving & tomorrow we depart on day #19 & it does not feel like we have been here too long. Just about right. Even if my fingers were not hurt we would not have been able to dive due to the weather. Having an owie made me somewhat less restless & (eventually) more resigned. We certainly had plenty of socializing between Jerome & family, Bernard & lastly the gang aboard \”Mahina Tiare III\”. A memorable final French Polynesian island experience. Here we come Cooks!!!

Cindy & Scott

Dear F&F,
June 12-14
More Mopelia Diving (Posted via HF Radio Email from Mopelia Atoll).

After a later than normal night, we slept in a bit. When we finally got up, we were treated to a full arc, gorgeous rainbow. The sun was shining with lots of puffy clouds, absolutely magnificent.

Jerome called about 8:00 a.m. on the VHF radio asking to join us for a dive. We told him we\’d radio when we returned from dive #1, to join us for the second dive. He is a great Dad, but we know he is happy to get a break from the mayhem of three boys aboard. The clouds filled in and it rained as we went out for the first dive, but we enjoyed it very much anyway. Scott did not take the camera or video which is kind of rare and has pros & cons. On the one hand, he notices and interacts more with me. Of course when I am modeling for him he notices, directs and we are interacting, but it is not very relaxing. But we both love the results and are willing to do that. When he is photographing stuff that does not require me as a model, small stuff especially, it is great for me because he doesn\’t swim much. I can be in my own world, while he is in his, yet I can easily keep an eye on his position. Sometimes without the camera, like this morning, he swims fast in order to explore a larger area of the reef. It is always a give and take compromise. Thank God I taught him finger spelling because I can tell him to slow down and he does listen.

There is a lot of \”action\” in the pass. Schools of fish, sharks, the current always goes out. Sometimes stronger and other times weaker, but always out, never in. This means the water is a bit cloudy because of the sand from the lagoon gets kicked up as it is swept out. But the marine life loves Natures way of \”stirring the pot\”, so it is a fun place to just hang on to one side and just watch the action: schooling barracuda & jacks above, sharks below.

We saw our first lemon shark here. Those were the big ones in the \”Fins of Bora Bora\” video. It clearly felt Scott\’s shark shield and reacted in the appropriate way: quickly swimming away from us! I love to see evidence that these things actually work. The 6 foot long antenna frequently gets hooked on coral. If you touch it, it zaps you. The on/off control is not easily managed with gloves on. A royal pain. But I wear it because we dive \”in the wild\” so much, Scott is adamant about it. Like a motorcycle rider or airplane rider: the more you do it, the more chance there is that eventually there will be an incident. I would never ride a motorcycle without a helmet. So, we always wear our shark shields when we are diving alone The fact that we DO NOT spear fish reduces our risk of confusing a shark & de-promotes an accidental nibble of neoprene.

Returning through the pass we saw the 3rd boat (2 French guys) snorkeling near their kayak. Their wimpy motored dinghy was anchored safely inside the lagoon, but the poor guys were clearly getting pushed out to sea due to the strong current. We had them hop in our dinghy and towed their kayak safely to their dinghy. They were keen to find the shipwreck, which they had read about. Without a strong motored dinghy they would not be able to return to the lagoon against the current. We suggested they walk across the shallow part of the reef, then snorkel, but they did not have any shoes! C\’est la vie.

When we were back onboard after dive #1, we hailed Jerome on the radio and he did not waste any time jetting over. No Leo snorkeling above today, which was good, because the sea state got rougher as the morning wore on. While we finished filling tanks, Scott loaded some weather viewing software on Jerome\’s memory stick. We also showed him untouched photos from diving on the \”Seeadler\” wreck. Once Scott \”develops\” the digital images to his satisfaction, he will burn them a CD. Jerome was thrilled to be in many photos with his son and knows the little boys will be very excited to see them.

Nice 2nd dive. We covered the same territory as in the morning. Jerome is a very compatible third diver and we know he really loves it like us, so it is a pleasure to share. I had a \”Zena Warrior Princess\” moment when I saw the evil Crown of Thorns starfish on the reef. I didn\’t have my own long knife and got pricked on a thorn using Scott\’s short knife. Scott got pricked too. Now my right hand is really spastic. Finger #4 is still recovering from my crush injury of 2 weeks ago and now I have a new owie on the tip of my right index finger. We do not believe the thorn breaks off nor is it known to be poisonous. It did bleed and is quite bruised looking. But Scott kissed it all better so I am sure to be fine soon.

The days pass quickly. By the time we rinsed gear, showered, Scott loaded fuel to the tank that runs the generator and I made yogurt and salads, it was 3:00 p.m.

We are having pretty darn comfortable weather. I could do with less rain, but the cloud cover is mainly what keeps it cooler.

Cindy and Scott

Dear F&F,
June 9, 2010
Wreck of the \”Seeadler\” Found (Posted via HF Radio Email from Mopelia Atoll)

Scott took his video camera and we found some parts of the shipwreck, more or less in the area where Kalami outlined to Scott via stick drawing on the sand. We spent 85 minutes below. It is so shallow our air lasts a long time.

After a shower, we fired up the generator in order to refill our scuba tanks and we heard a sickening noise upon start up of the scuba compressor. An unmistakable noise: fan belt failure. To investigate and install our spare, we use a block & tackle attached to a harness to carefully hoist the 100 pound unit out of its tight locker (which is also bench seating in the cockpit). Scott muscles the line, I control its tendency to swing into the salon window. We have done this periodically for routine service. It is a hassle, but we know that changing the fan belt is no big deal and we should be back in action within an hour – max. Scott is very diligent to make sure we have spares of just about everything that can break. Because on a boat, it is just a matter of time before everything does break. Often repeatedly!

Our Can-Do optimistic spirit took a downward spiral when we discovered the spare was the WRONG SIZE! Shame on Shawn at Compressed Air Specialties! He sold us a SPZ-950. What we needed was the original SPZ-887. Grrrrrrrrrr!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Although there are slots to slide the motor for tension adjustment, the new belt was three inches too long. Impossible to make it fit in the normal way.

After we gave some air time to our feelings of frustration and anger, we got down to the more useful business of: How the heck are we going to make this work?

It was quite a challenge with creative adaptations to make the new longer belt fit. We had to drill a 2 inch hole in the frame where the motor shaft goes through it, using a hole saw to allow the motor to line up far enough away from the compressor. The metal frame is not very thick, but it took a lot of pressure for Scott to get the holes drilled. Thank God he\’s a dentist! It took my whole body weight leaning in, opposing his force, to stabilize the unit. My right arm felt like I did a hundred pushups the next day.

Next he had to re-drill holes in the bottom of the frame to allow the adjustment for the slotted foot plate on the motor base to slide far enough away from the compressor to tighten the belt! Scott was very pleased when I came up with the idea of shimming the motor up 3/8\” to allow for the electric box holes (which perfectly lined up) to slide under the motor foot plate. This meant he did not have to re-drill its holes which also kept the motor plate above the frames \”rubber mount\” (with allen nut) so he didn\’t have to re-drill that hole! I know this reads like a lot of blah blah blah to many of you. But I know a few of you subscribe to Popular Mechanics and may see a potential article: Creative Ways to Repair Your Scuba Compressor in the Field.

I am happy to report that our efforts were successful and after a short test that night, we were able to fill our tanks the next morning, with the new fan belt behaving. Scott wrote (what I thought was a restrained & polite email) to the supplier who gave us the WRONG spare part. He ordered 3 more, of the CORRECT size to be shipped to our land-based support friend Mike. If we need another one, at least he will have it handy to ship to us wherever DHL delivers. We have always known that keeping the scuba compressor running is the #1 priority to happy diving in remote locations. Scott was so diligent in learning how to service it. If we\’d had the correct sized fan belt the job would have been no big deal. Instead it took 5 1/2 hours of hard work.

June 10 – Mopelia Atoll Day #6
HAPPY BIRTHDAY SKYE!!!!!!!!!!!!

There was wind and rain in the morning but we were eager to find more parts of the 100 year old \”Seeadler\” shipwreck, so geared up to dive. Jerome on sister ship \”Na Maka\” is anchored about 4 miles away. We are close to the pass and all dive sites outside the reef. He is close to the family living here and has more protection from the prevailing wind at that end of the atoll. He arrived via dinghy with 10 year old son Leo. Conditions were too rough for Natalie to bring the twin 4 year olds.

We took both dinghies outside the pass, anchored in 20 feet of water immediately south. Jerome tied his dinghy to ours. Leo is an avid snorkeler and can hold his breath to dive down several feet. Scott took the wide angle lens on the still camera. I patiently posed with just about every hunk of metal we found. It has been well documented. Jerome was a fine model too and Scott got some cute shots of Leo hamming for the camera. Trenches have been worn from years of wave action, in the strip of land down into deeper water over the coral reef. In about 5 of these parallel trenches we found significant chunks of the ships remains: a large classic shaped anchor, 105 mm gun, gun shells, crank shaft, bow windlass and other unidentifiable disintegrating, rusty parts. Two pieces of chain were found deeper, not attached to the anchor. No identifiable hull remnants were found.

Since most of the wreck is in very shallow water, only about 15 feet, our tanks of air lasted forever. We stayed down one hour and 40 minutes! I think that is a record for our longest single scuba dive. When we decided it was enough for one day, I still had plenty of air, but Scott was very tired from dragging his \”two year old\” around (affectionate name for his camera). Jerome knew his wife might start to worry since we were out so long.

Beside the interesting shipwreck, the reef has gorgeous corals, an abundance and large variety of tropical fish. We saw a few distant sharks, one eagle ray and one turtle. I did not see any of the evil starfish today, fine with me. It is really fantastic here. Desolate, rugged but beautiful. One dive of that length was plenty for today. Tomorrow we may motor further down and tow the dinghy along topside, doing a drift dive to explore a larger area of the reef.

We enjoyed the chilled fresh coconuts that Jerome brought us. By tapping a couple of holes I could pour out the nearly clear liquid that is sweet and refreshing. Chiseling the husk open, I dug into the soft white flesh with a spoon – what a treat! I don\’t recall that I\’ve ever enjoyed a young coconut like that. Absolutely delicious, thank you \”Na Maka\”!!

If you read & enjoy my reports, please write back telling us about your life. Even a short hello if you are too busy to write in detail, a short note is much appreciated. Thank you for your ears. Thank you even more for your messages. We LOVE to get mail.

Cindy and Scott

Dear F&F,
June 8th, 2010

Wreck of the \”Seeadler\” part 1 (Posted via HF Radio from Mopelia Atoll)

While in our last island Maupiti, we had a nice dinner with friends from \”Na Maka\” and a lovely American couple from Guadalajara, David and Eileen.
The owner of the \”Pension\” (family style hotel), Gerrad; told us about a World War 1 German Shipwreck, \”Seeadler\” right outside Mopelia Pass.

This of course got us quite excited. A shipwreck we\’d never heard of, diveable in French Polynesia?

History: Count Captain Lt. Von Luckner, an aristocrat of French and German ancestry was to captain a captured American 3 masted sailing ship of 1500 gross tons and 275 feet. Formerly, \”Pass of Balhama\”, the ship was captured by a German U Boat and re-christend, \”Seeadler\” (Sea Eagle) and began \”raiding operations\” to harass allied shipping in WW1. Captain Von Luckner was both lucky and nimble and outfoxed several traps set for him at the tip of South America. His hallmark was that of the gentleman aristocrat adventurer/warrior. He prided himself on never taking a life in battle!

However, when \”firing a shot\” across a British merchant ship, the shot fell short, exploding a boiler and killing a young British sailor. Captain Von Luckner was distraught! He held a very formal burial at sea ceremony and apparently was disturbed by the event most of the rest of his life.

His classic style was to \”fire a shot across the enemies bow\”, have them see the hopelessness of the situation, surrender and promptly take the crew aboard, invite the Captain and officers to dine with him, then sink their ship. He had done this at least 16 times. He treated the captured crews so well, they often joined in his crew and he offered rewards to anyone who spotted enemy cargo ships for the taking.

Eventually, his luck ran out. He brought his \”Seeadler\” to this atoll, Mopelia in far western French Polynesia to avoid detection by the Australian and more specifically, New Zealand Navies. They were indeed hunting him. In a sudden westerly shift of the winds, \”Seeadler\” was at one moment on a protected shore and then next aground hard on the reef outside the pass. Realizing the vessel was lost, he ordered it burned to try and avoid enemy detection. Eventually, he took a small boat and sailed to Samoa where he was \”bluffed\” by a suspicious local policeman into surrendering. The police officers gun was apparently not loaded!

Captain Von Luckner and his small crew were interned on a New Zealand P.O.W. camp and despite this, managed to escape in a small boat. He was in search of another vessel and finally captured again where he spent the rest of the war in New Zealand. The fate of his remaining crew on Mopelia was another story.

They commandered a French vessel and sailed to Easter Island where they ran aground on an uncharted reef and were captured and interned by the Chilean Navy in Valpariso until the end of WW1.

This is NOT where the story ends however……

Captain Von Luckner returned to Germany where he was a folk hero. Hitler, tried to co-opt him for propaganda into the Nazi party. Von Luckner hated Hitler and everything he stood for. Von Luckner was a Mason, and the Nazis hated the Masons. This was the final straw for Hitler & the Nazis. Von Luckner\’s speaking tours in the U.S., Australia and New Zealand had packed audiences listening to his WW1 tales. His battle flag today hangs in the Auckland, New Zealand Maritime Museum.

While on these tours, instead of hailing the virtues of the \”Third Reich\”, Von Luckner went out of his way to tell the Western World of the dangers of Adolph Hitler and the Nazi party. Enraged, Hitler wanted Von Luckner killed and if it were not for his immense public popularity in Germany, he certainly would have been murdered. Kept throughout WW2, as a civilian, under house arrest in Halle, Germany.

Halle had been spared the carpet bombing by the Allied Air Forces, mostly because it was a huge POW camp with tens of thousands of American and other Allied prisoners of war. Seeing the futility of the German side, Von Luckner drove across Allied lines in a car, met with reporters and was taken to American Commander General Terry Allen where he told the General he could negotiate with the German High Command to bring a peaceful surrender of Halle thus saving needless casualties on both sides. Count Von Luckner delivered: Halle fell without a fight.

After the war, the Russians said that the Americans were \”never there\” and interned Von Luckner. Due to his services to the US, General George S. Patton personally had he and his wife released from Russian custody and escorted to Sweden where they lived with the Countess\’s family.

And now you know the rest of the story!

There was a book, recently published (2005), \”Voyage of the Seeadler\” (Sea Eagle may replace \”Seeadler\” on an Amazon search.
This book details the life of Count Captain Lt. Von Luckner.

The parallels are far too strong, and I believe he was the inspiration for the WW2 movie, \”Sea Wolf\” starring John Wayne as the German Captain.
I believe it was the only movie John Wayne played a German Officer?…..You IMBD hounds can confirm this.

Keep In Touch, lots of \”Seeadler\” photos to be posted when we get internet.

Scott and Cindy

Dear F&F,
June 4-6, 2010
Passage to Mopelia (mow-peel-ee-uh) (Posted from Mopelia Atoll via HF Radio)

We had a lovely two weeks in Maupiti (mao-pee-tee). Our last day we rented bicycles for about $10 USD each to ride around the island. We got off the main road into the dirt but were redirected by some kind locals. No gears on the bikes so had to walk up one steep hill. It has been a long time since we\’d been on a bike and I felt a bit shaky, but it was fun. Beautiful vistas, a good workout.

RARE AS HEN\’S TEETH
We were sad that the lady with whom we had \”reserved\” 2 dozen eggs, at one of the 3 small markets, did not deliver. We\’ll never know if she really didn\’t have any or she decided to sell them to a friend instead of us. No worry. We left the island with 30 eggs. We will cut rations to one each per day instead of our usual 2 each per day. For those of you worried about this intake…it is an old concern about egg yolks causing high cholesterol. Scott has been able to cut his cholesterol medication dose in half on this diet and hopefully can stop it completely when we get the next blood test. Losing 50 lbs certainly didn\’t hurt!

I went to each of the 3 markets almost daily during the 3 weeks. I scored lettuce, tomatoes and bananas. Sadly only one more deliciously sweet grapefruit. It comforts me to have some fresh produce as we head out to an island that grows only coconuts.

June 4 -EXIT PASS AT MAUPITI
We left at 3:00 p.m. in order to have plenty of daylight to see the reef. The distance to our destination was only 100 miles, so we went slowly in order to arrive about 10:00 a.m. The wind was a good angle and intensity to sail. We only needed the main to go the desired speed. We took our usual watch shifts: me on 6-10 p.m. Then I sleep 10-2 while Scott was on. Except at 1:15 a.m. I woke up because I could feel the boat moving in a sluggish way. Sure enough, the wind had died off and we were flopping around uncomfortably in the swell. We turned on the engines, changed course slightly and motor sailed the rest of the night for comfort. I took my 2-6 a.m. watch early since I was already awake. I had armed myself with seasick prevention and did fine. It was lovely to enjoy the stars and bioluminescence (light producing creatures) alongside our hulls. I had a good nap from 6-9 a.m. while Scott approached Mopelia atoll. We passed \”Na Maka\” during the night, the French family on the blue Switch. They used a different sailing configuration (gennaker only) and did not motor at all. They have also been here before, so are familiar with the narrow pass entrance.

June 5 – ENTRY AT MOPELIA
We had the plan to enter about 10:00 a.m. as the rising (starting to be overhead) sun would illuminate the coral reef as we entered the eastern facing pass. The conditions were favorable so we went right in even without the benefit of following Jerome\’s lead. It is quite narrow (65 feet!) with only primitive stick markers. No more of the good red and green navigation buoys that we\’ve enjoyed throughout French Polynesia. There is no significant amount of ship traffic to make this tiny atoll a priority.

Once through the trickiest part, I drove and Scott climbed on top of the boom to get more of a bird\’s eye view on the coral heads as we negotiated the reef. It took us nearly two hours to find a place to anchor that looked good to us. To make sure we would not hit a shallow coral head, Scott got in the dinghy with its depth sounder to scout the area \”Beach House\” would swing over in any direction of wind.
When \”Na Maka\” came in later that afternoon, they anchored about 4 miles down the atoll by the \”village\”. There are 2 families: one has 10 people, one has 2. They work copra farming (coconut).
I was very tired from being on and off watch for 20 hours & did not want to move, but Scott knew in the morning I would be keen to dive & it was prudent to talk to Jerome & get whatever local info we could. Jerome and family know these people from being here 3 years ago and they are good friends. I was hot, tired, hungry and crabby but we managed to up anchor and motor 4 miles down the atoll. Scott dinghied to them. Their 3 kids were already playing with the local kids on the beach. Hard to stay grumpy for long in the presence of laughing children.

I still took the night watch 12-3 a.m. despite the very calm anchorage in the lagoon. It is common for me to be awake some during the night.

June 6
Jerome got information on where the \”Seedler\” shipwreck from 1917 was supposed to be located outside the reef. He does not have scuba equipment or a compressor onboard, but is certified, so we took him with us. It was over 30 minutes dinghy ride from where the catamarans are anchored to the reef pass. We scouted a long time searching for the wreck. We found the big link chain and thought for sure that would lead us to the wreck site. We did not find anything but the chain. What we did see was another beautiful coral garden. Like Maupiti in variety and abundance, but the coral heads are overall smaller sized. There seems to be more variety and larger numbers of fish. And we saw each of the common sharks: white tip, black tip & grey reef. The visibility was excellent. Diving at the entrance pass on it\’s south west corner was spectacular.

I enjoyed \”conservation in action\” killing three Crown of Thorn starfish (reef destroyers) with a stick and dead piece of coral. Scott got pricked by a thorn while helping me, youch! I will go more prepared next time with my Hawaiian sling and long knife strapped to my calf. Keeping the spirit of divemaster Ronald (Maupiti). We were happy to see one very large male Napolean wrasse that is a natural predator of the crown of thorn starfish. But they eat other things too, so I don\’t think it disrupts Mother Nature if I destroy these pests when I find them.

Jerome did very well even though he had not been on scuba for over one year. He is an avid free diver (holds his breath, no tank) spear fisherman. This takes a lot of fitness and agility. He tells us that there are abundant lobsters and coconut crabs here that are good to eat. YUM! It was a great first submersion. We still hope to find the shipwreck if there are remnants of it here. We will want to move \”Beach House\” closer to the pass to shorten the dinghy ride. All our dives will be either in the pass, or drifting, towing the dinghy outside the reef. For now we will stay put, likely go ashore tomorrow to meet the people here. See what they need, what we have that we can share with them.

It rained this afternoon and the weather prediction is a bit shaky for a couple days, but that will not necessarily prevent us from diving. We have good protection from every wind direction so no worries. Jerome and Scott are always talking about the next few islands, the route, the timing. It will be nice if we can stay together for a while. Our boat is definitely not 4 year old proof, so we will not likely have the entire family aboard, but we hope to contribute to a shore side potluck perhaps. And since \”Na Maka\’s\” watermaker is broken we have offered them all the fresh water they need. They have installed an effective method to catch rain and fill their tanks that way. We have this system, but since our watermaker is not broken, have not utilized it. It is smart though, because it has been raining some every day.

Cindy and Scott