Author Archives: Mark
Mo’orea – Part 1
Every now and then, we happen to find ourselves in a place rendering us utterly speechless. Mo’orea is one of those places. Located just 16km (10 miles) west of Tahiti, Mo’orea is clearly visible from the western shore and is home to fewer than 20,000 people. Almost every time we catch a glimpse of Mo’orea, […]
Pape’ete Murals and Other Crazy Ramblings
We recently learned that Pape’ete, about once per year, has an artist paint a mural in the town. During our walkabouts, we are awestruck by some of these fabulous giant works of art. Aruba and St Petersburg are a couple of other places we’ve visited with murals. Besides the incredible creativity and unbelievable art, these […]
C’est la vie
C’est la vie. (That’s life) This blog is known for sharing the sunny side of cruising and the sometimes not so sunny side. This is one of those not so sunny sides. Well, it is and it isn’t. Our view of French Polynesian remains cheerful. Others here are starting to hate it. You can judge for […]
Tahiti is Beautiful
Tahiti is beautiful! We have been out and about on the island. The scenery is stunning. Meet Corinne Mc Kittrick, PHD, our tour guide for the day. Corinne can trace her ancestry on Tahiti back to the 1800’s and has her doctorate in Polynesian Languages & Civilization. How much did we enjoy the tour? This […]
Pape’ete, Tahiti
As of this week Tahiti and all of French Polynesia are now Covid-19 free with no active cases. All restrictions have since eased. Even bars and nightclubs have re-opened. This week inter-island travel is authorized for everyone, including private boats. Everything is getting back to normal. Many of the local businesses were forced to close […]
Moving to Pape’ete
Our first two weeks in Tahiti were spent in a nice little cove near Marina Taina on the northwest side of the island. From day one, it has been very educational. The morning following our arrival we got our dinghy ready for the short trip to the marina dinghy dock for our check-in with customs […]
Out at Sea and Out of Touch
You would think to be in the middle of the ocean as a contagious virus infects people all about the globe is be a good place. It is and it isn’t. First and foremost, our crossing of the South Pacific Ocean was awesome. We had great weather and absolutely enjoyed the experience. After leaving Galapagos, […]
Cream Puff is in Tahiti
When we left Galapagos, our destination was meant to be the Marquesas Islands, specifically Nuku Hiva in French Polynesia some 3400 miles due west. Our plans changed because of new Covid-19 regulations made by the French government regarding check-in procedures. About 60 hours out of Nuku Hiva, our agent notified us of the changes […]
Isabela Island, Galápagos
Karma caught up with us. In our previous post, I gave the ARC boats a hard time for not using stern anchors and basically not looking at surrounding boat’s ground tackle before they picked their anchor location. Well, when it came to for us to leave, we had an issue retrieving our stern anchor. It […]
Santa Cruz Island, Galapagos – Part Two
The biggest disappointment so far in the Galápagos Islands is the Darwin Center. We were hoping to learn about Darwin and the details of evolution. Instead, we were made to feel guilty for being human. It is nothing more than a bad zoo with captive iguanas and giant tortoises. It is touted as a research […]
Santa Cruz Island, Galapagos – Part One
Some mornings after I have made my pot of Taylors of Harrogate English Breakfast Tea and climb up into the cockpit to do the morning crossword, I am amazed we are in Galápagos. This place is awesome! Cindy said a couple of days ago, she too looks around and is so glad we are here. […]
San Cristóbal, Galápagos (Part Two)
Still on San Cristóbal, we are exploring the small town of Puerto Baquerizo Moreno. It is really charming. What has surprised me the most is the food here is very good. We fell in love with an open-air restaurant called Rosita’s. Looking at the menu, it has a dish for just about everyone. I couldn’t […]
San Cristóbal, Galápagos (Part One)
Arriving in Galápagos my expectations were pretty low. I know I have said this before, I can be a little pessimistic. Pessimists are either right or pleasantly surprised. Cindy, as always is much more optimistic. Based on all the fees, red-tape, and the hoops we had to jump through to get here, I had envisioned […]
We arrived safely in Galápagos
Yea! We arrived safely in Galápagos. The passage from Panama to Galápagos turned out to be one of the most challenging sails were have encountered so far in our wacky journey. The passage requires crossing an area called the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ). The area has doldrums and can produce spectacular thunderstorms. I hate lightning. […]
Parting Ways with Panama
One last trip to the big city to return our rental car, check out with immigration and bus back to the marina in San Carlos. Bye-bye Panama! As you read this, Cindy and I are sailing approximately 1,000 miles or 7 days to Galapagos. We have finally left Panama after a very long enjoyable stay […]
