Season 3 Begins

We are back in French Polynesia for the start of Season 3, which we hope will take us back to the places we loved, some places we missed, and points west (Cook Islands, Tonga, Fiji, and New Zealand).

With the holidays behind us, our attention turned to organizing and packing the boat gear and food we were bringing with us from the US. Fortunately, United Airlines lets us check four 70-pound suitcases for free. We make the most of that perk. Pam goes to our local thrift stores and buys used, giant roller bags, which we fill with stuff. Once we get to the boat and unpack them, we donate the suitcases to the locals.

Unlike Mexico, French Polynesia customs makes it easy to bring in boat parts and packaged food. We never knew what would happen in Mexico when going through customs. Maybe they will let us keep it. Maybe they will take it. Maybe they will charge us duty. In Papeete, we breeze right through every time. “Anything to declare?” “No, just boat parts.” “Any food?” “Yes, all store bought and packaged.” “Welcome to Tahiti, enjoy your visit.” The customs beagle gives our bags a quick sniff and the man waives us through.

Our plan was to get the boat ready to sail and then take the first available “weather window” and sail east back into the Tuamotu archipelago. A “weather window” is a forecast for a desirable wind direction and sea state in the direction we want to go.

Most of the time, the trade winds blow from east to west. Those trade winds are what allowed us to get across the Pacific from Mexico so quickly. About 7% of the time in January, low-pressure systems in the southern ocean spin the wind around in the South Pacific, and it blows from west-northwest to east for a few days. We look for this pattern, and when it’s accompanied by relatively calm seas, we jump on it and sail east.

We needed a few days to get the boat ready: bend on our repaired headsails; mount our freshly inspected and repacked life raft; fill the fridge and freezer with groceries; clean the bottom; fill the fuel tanks; un-pickle the water maker.

Our last multi-day passage was back in September when we sailed from the Leeward Islands to Tahiti to leave the boat for the holidays. We were out of practice. A crew member would spread the workload and make our first passage of the season easier. Enter our long-time sailing friend, Al Fricke from Half Moon Bay, CA.

We met Al and his wife, Sandy, back in the mid-90s when we were all living in San Mateo. They had just returned from a year of sailing Mexico and the Sea of Cortez. They were selling some excess boat gear. We were getting ready to go on our first cruise to Mexico. They listed their spare anchor for sale in Latitude 38 magazine’s classified ads. Although I couldn’t get him to budge on the price, Al and Sandy invited us to dinner at their house to mark our charts and share their experiences from their recent voyage. We’ve been friends ever since.

Al is retired and has a flexible schedule. When I saw the weather window begin to take shape in mid-January, I sent him a note to see if he could make it down to Tahiti in time to take advantage of it. “I’ll change my flight right now. Standby.” And he did.

The weather window was rapidly approaching, but we had a problem: I was running a 102-degree fever. From what, we didn’t know. This is never a good thing with three people living in close quarters on a boat. We can’t go to sea with a sick captain. Fatigue builds rapidly offshore, and you can’t be certain a health issue won’t escalate into something worse.

We decided to go ahead and move out of the marina and onto a nearby mooring. Being tied to the wall in the marina gets old. It’s hard to get on and off the boat. It’s rough sometimes. It’s hot, and we have to run the AC to make sleeping aboard tolerable. We were ready to get going. On a mooring, we could clean the bottom and inspect everything under the water—something the marina forbids. We could stop by the fuel dock on the way out and fill up our diesel and gas tanks—diesel for the boat engines and generator, gas for the dinghy outboard. Fuel is scarce and expensive where we are heading.

My fever broke the day we moved out to the mooring. We were good to go. The next three days were some of the most perfect ocean conditions I’ve ever experienced. Light to moderate westerlies, flat seas, a full moon. It was wonderful sailing. We worked together well as a crew. Pam was amazing as always, keeping us well-fed but also standing a watch. Spreading the watches across three people rather than two makes for a much more enjoyable trip.

Al is the ideal crew member. He is an experienced cruising sailor and a long-time boat owner. He knows what is happening and why. He knows the fundamentals of running the boat and he knows how to keep himself safe and not get hurt. He knows all too well the burdens of looking after a complex cruising boat, When things break, he is an effective troubleshooter and thinking partner for me. The port (left) hull of the boat is for guests, and that gave Al his own 2-bedroom, 1-bath apartment. He is a retired psychologist, and has a keen sense of people and their behavior. He mixes this empathy with a great sense of humor. At 80, he is in great physical shape. We joked to other sailors we know that we brought along Al as our own personal marriage counselor and therapist. It was kind of true. He took good care of us.

Our loose plan was to sail as far east as the conditions would allow before the weather window closed and easterly tradewinds returned. After that, we could decide to stay in the Tuamotus, sail up to the Marquesas, or down to the Gambier archipelago. Regardless, we had to make the most of these great sailing conditions and go east. And we did.

We stopped for a day in Tahanea, one of our favorite atolls from last year. That gave us some rest and a chance to introduce Al to what we love about the Tuamotus. There are three passes into the lagoon, and when the current is flowing in, it sweeps you over a vast coralscape full of fish and sharks. It is some of the best snorkeling and diving anywhere in the world.

There was still life left in the weather window. The wind was beginning to veer back to the east, but the seas were still moderate. We left Tahanea at sunset for an overnight, upwind sail to Makemo, an atoll we didn’t visit last year. We entered the pass at dawn and set across the lagoon for an anchorage to settle into.

We are back. The Tuamotus are as we remembered them: wild, beautiful, unspoiled, crystal clear water full of life. The boat is running well, and we are back in our groove. I’m looking forward to what Season 3 holds for us.

A Few Photos:

320 pounds of food and boat gear. Thank you, United Airlines! Roam is in good shape. She spent the holidays here secured with a web of lines on the outer quay of Marina Taina in Tahiti.

The Carrefour supermarket is a short walk from the marina. It’s Tahiti’s version of a Walmart Supercenter or Target in the US. It takes twice as long to shop here than at home because we don’t read French very well, and we don’t have the instant visual recognition of our favorite brands. Pam has gotten very good at provisioning. She can create space for three months of food in our fridge and freezer. The store employs a security guard to keep people like us from using their shopping carts to haul our groceries to the marina. We have to call a taxi.

Shopping is one thing. Getting it all onto the boat is another. The boat is pulled away from the quay to minimize damage risk from surge and waves. The gap is too wide to use a plank to get on and off (and Pam refuses to use the plank anyway). So we shuttle ourselves back and forth with the dinghy. Papeete is one place where we chain and lock the dinghy for security reasons. We don’t worry about crime in the Marquesas or Tuamotus. It doesn’t exist there.

Al is a legit expert fisherman. He’s a published author on the topic of salmon fishing from sailboats. I am a lazy fisherman. The idea of having to murder a large, pissed-off fish on the transom steps and butcher it while sailing at eight or nine knots is not for the faint of heart. We have sailing friends who think we are crazy for not taking advantage of the opportunity to fish offshore. Al got our fishing game moving.

A “meat line” is a common fishing setup on sailboats. It’s a tuna line with a long steel leader and the lure of your choice. The black rubber section snaps the line when a fish hits the lure and sets the hook. The beer can rattles to let you know you have a fish on. You can pull in hand-over-hand a surprisingly big fish. No rod or reel is needed. Very redneck, I know. Our Pacific crossing crew member, Mike Whalen, put all of this fishing tackle together for us. And to answer the obvious question, no, we haven’t caught anything yet. Al says we need to sail over some kind of bottom “structure” (like rocks or a seamount or something). The ocean is a million feet deep out here, and the pelagic fish are spread out such that you don’t come across them often.

We made a short stop on the Tuamotu atoll of Tahanea, one of our favorites from last year. It gave us a chance to rest and also dive the passes that flow into the lagoon.

Tahanea has three passes into its lagoon. They feature endless coral-scapes full of fish and sharks. We wait for the incoming tide to start, motor out of the pass in the dinghy, shut off the motor, jump in, and drift through the pass towing the dinghy behind us. If there is better snorkeling in the world I’d love to see it. Tahanea (and the Tuamotus in general) are beautiful.

Few things are as wonderful as an ocean passage—especially in a moderate breeze with flat seas. And especially with a great crew. I often say that I’m happy we’ve arrived at our destination, but I wish the passage didn’t have to end.

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Excerpts from our log:

Season 3 Begins

Sun Jan 12 2025 20:48:00 GMT-1000 (Tahiti Time)

17 35.205s 149 36.994w

All is well. We are back in Tahiti getting Roam up and running and ready to go sailing. We are presently tied up in Marina Taina where Roam spent the holidays without us.

We hope to leave the marina for the anchorage on Tuesday. We will fuel up, clean the bottom and finish a few projects. With luck we will jump on the back of the passing low on Wed morning bound for the Tuamotus.

Our good friend and veteran cruising sailor Al Fricke has flown in to join us.

–Jim

Comfortable night

Thu Jan 16 2025 06:16:00 GMT-1000 (Tahiti Time)

16 50.428s 147 40.807w

All is well. We are presently broad reaching under reefed main, and Jack (reacher, get it) in 10-12 knots of breeze and slight, 2-3 foot westerly seas. Daggers at 1/3.

It has been a comfortable passage thus far. We were reaching in 12-15 knots last knot with boat speeds over 9 knots on occasion. Just perfect. Hard to imagine we can find these conditions to go east in January.

Pam cooked up an amazing dinner.

120 miles to Fakarava. We will have to decide then whether to continue east to Makemo or Raroia.

–Jim

Tahanea

Sat Jan 18 2025 09:28:00 GMT-1000 (Tahiti Time)

16 50.936s 144 41.627w

All is well. We are presently anchored just inside the passes at Tahanea after a fabulous 2 night, 350nm passage from Tahiti. Flat seas and great sailing.

It’s as beautiful as remembered from our last visit. We drift snorkeled the middle pass yesterday.

We will do some more exploring today and depart this afternoon for an overnight to Makemo 50 miles away.

—Jim