Westward Ho

It had all gotten a bit hard to find some friends to help sail Evenstar to Fiji. So with mixed feelings we signed up for an internet site: Crewbay.  

We had a few good phone and zoom chats with prospective crew members. Sandrine emerged as a front-runner, so we offered to host her for a night aboard in Moorea to get acquainted. We all got on well and agreed she would make a great addition to the crew for our passage to Fiji. 

Sandrine is quite a formidable person. She is a cyclist, mountaineer, sailor, paraglider and PhD qualified geologist on a mission to sail and cycle around the world, whilst maintaining a minimum carbon position. Along the way she plans to climb mountains and fly off them. The story of her trip is here: https://untourdaile.com/. 

So we headed back to Papeete for more num numb time in the lagoon. Our first stop was to the fuel dock at Taina to fill the tanks and collect Sandrine, including bags and reclined bicycle.  

The Sturgeon Full Moon arrived and imbued the lagoon with some beauty to offset the groundhog day feeling.  

It was boring and frustrating to be back in the floating slum. But despite a few blah days we made progress, the most significant of which was we got our repaired boom back and installed it via our by-now-routine dinghy and winch method. The uplift in the Paul's and my moods was palpable; we were back in the sailing business after way too long a hiatus. 

Many other maintenance tasks were completed. Sandrine showed some of her excellent skills with screwdrivers, spanners and ropes in hand.  But once the boom was back on, as soon as the wind allowed... we got the f*&king hell out of there and headed to Huahine. Au Revoir Papeete. 

After an all-night sail, dawn lit up the stratocumulous sky. We sailed around to the leeward side of the island to enter via Passe Avamoa and anchor off Fare township.  

But the surf was pumping as we came through the pass. Sleep or surf? 

I opted for a solo surf at the confronting right-hander on the north side of the pass... My mostly-healed ribs twinged at the sight of dry coral so close to the take off; so after one very short ride and flick off I jumped back in the dinghy and headed back to the boat. 

Huahine is fun and beautiful. I heartily recommend it. 

Evenstar anchored close to the surf break on the south side of the pass.  

Poulette Fume on the wood fired BBQ is a local speciality. The cheery Chef was happy to take our cash in return for a good feed. I studied the construction of the bbq closely for future reference.

The towering Fig Tree at the Ancient Marae, Maeva, northern Huahine.

Anini Marae, Huahine Iti.

The ferry arrives, with our dinghy in the foreground, Evenstar in the background second from left. The colour gradation in the lagoon is spectacular.

If you squint you can see King Kong's face emerging from the rock bluff in the distance…

Cycling on e-bikes around the island.

 

The Evenstar Crew. 

After a couple of great cycling days, and evenings gasbagging with the sailors at the so-called Yacht Club, we pulled up the pick and headed west. With not enough sailing under our belts, we experimented with optimal downwind sail trim on the day sail to Raiatea, and we are now anchored in the lagoon here prepping for our big journey to Fiji. 

We've removed the mainsail; Pierre the wry sailmaker replaced the worn clew block in 24 hours. Replaced the dead fuel transfer pump and swapped over the 25 year old brass fittings (patience and muscled required) so we can move fuel from the second tank to the main tank. Pulled apart the generator raw water system to check for blockages. Installed a kick-arse preventer system to stop the boom crash-gybing... 

...And I’ve just dropped our bbq gas bottle to the carenage for a slow-drain gravity refill. We now have the connectors to do this on board anywhere in the world.. So it was good to see how it was done.

We just need to do a big shop and we are pretty much ready to go. So it's looking like early next week. 

If you click on the menu icon, top left of the main page of this site, you will see a "where is Evenstar" link. Feel free to keep an eye on us as we transit a large chunk of the Pacific. We will post messages there. Drop us a text on the satphone  - 0485 890 231.

Ciao!