.png)
Today is washing day and thankfully I have found a washing machine in Mo'orea Marina which is in the mountainous, lush Ōpūnohu Bay. I have a small, manual washing machine on board Agápē, but it is literally just a plastic container with a lid that rotates on a stand, and it uses a lot of water, so finding a washing machine seriously makes my day. I figure now is also a good time to write about our experiences over the last month since leaving Pape'ete Marina at the beginning of April.
Currently I am sitting outside with a French sailor who is gently strumming his ukulele and having a ciggie while his inquisitive little dog sits at this feet. The French sailor just had a visit from the doctor to check out some nasty wounds on his feet. As the doctor arrived, he gave me a fist pump, followed by a “ça va”? Gilbert who runs the marina is also floating around. He is a cheeky fella who makes me laugh with his jokes and good sense of humour. This morning when I arrived with my stinky laundry, he let me jump the queue so that I could get my washing done first.
It certainly feels surreal to be tapping away on my laptop in these surroundings.
Finally Departed Pape'ete Marina
Miraculously Marc was able to source and replace our solar panel within one day with the help of some lovely people which meant we could finally leave Pape'ete Marina. Agápē has a long fin keel which basically means she handles like a drunk baby elephant. Marc is still getting to grips with the lack of manoeuvrability when going astern (reversing) so leaving the marina with wind blowing was a little nerve racking. But we managed to avoid the dock and other boats and headed out to the Airport Anchorage. Our neighbours had kindly offered us their mooring for a few days, so we could take some time out and decompress.
After a couple of nights on the mooring, we decided to head down to Marina Taina to refuel as we were keen to get going to Mo'orea Island. Unfortunately, the wind picked up to over 20kn and when we got to there, we discovered a huge ship berthed in front of the fuel dock blocking the ideal access. The only option was to go into the marina entrance and pull a tight U-turn while avoiding the million-dollar super yacht berthed opposite the fuel dock. The super yacht had no fenders out and the wind could easily blow us onto it.
After assessing the situation and motoring for a couple of hours waiting for the wind to drop, we eventually made the call to flag it and decided to head back to the mooring. When we arrived back at the mooring, the wind had picked up even more. As Marc approached the mooring ball, I managed to hook the short line with the boat hook. Unfortunately, the boat hook got snagged as the boat drifted backwards and I was hanging onto it with all my strength (losing boat hook over side is all bad). At the last second, just as my fingers where about to give up on me, it popped out and I scrambled to get our “wife saver snap shackle” attached to the line. We were holding, but only just, so I jumped in the water, and we got the mooring lines secured as quickly as possible.
Our neighbours had advised us that they will be taking their mooring the following day, so we regrouped for the afternoon and got ready to leave early next morning.
Anchoring Woes
The Airport Anchorage is crowded as it is one of the few places in Tahiti where yachties are welcome. Unfortunately, there are so many abandoned boats in the anchorages, that the French Polynesian authorities are maker it harder and harder for visiting yachts to find a space.
We left the mooring ball early and headed to the anchorage. We navigated through all the yachts to the front of the pack to find a spot. After a couple of failed attempts, we found a suitable location that was 14m deep. We started to lay out our chain and you can imagine our surprise when at 45m the chain stopped and went to rope! We thought we had 84m of chain as per the labelling on the anchor locker. We let out approximately 10 metres of rope and rushed below to find that there was only around 10m of rope remaining (thankfully it was attached to the boat!).
For those not familiar with boating, if you anchor in 14m, you need 56m of chain to be secure which is a 4:1 chain / depth ratio. In high winds, the chain / depth should be 5:1 or 70m of chain. It doesn’t take a genius to work out that we don’t have enough chain, and this is a BIG problem.
Rope is not recommended for cruising yachts and in the South Pacific some anchorages are 20-25m deep and most cruising yachts carry at least 60 – 100m of chain (plus rope). I am flabbergasted that the previous owners failed to disclose that the measurements written on the anchor locker where incorrect and that we only had 45m of chain. It is a significant safety issue! Thank goodness we had not attempted to anchor during the cyclone that rolled through in February!
Needless to say, we are both seething about this and are kicking ourselves for not checking the anchor chain while in Papeete Marina. After everything else we have discovered, we should have not assumed that the measurements written on the anchor locker were accurate.
Thankfully we had just enough chain and rope to hold tight at the Airport Anchorage that night. The wind picked up to 22kn and we were a bit twitchy as Agape danced in the breeze. During the day we were surrounded by tiki boats which are basically just a moving bar with extra loud music. People party all day and all night making for anything but a peaceful anchorage.
That afternoon, we set about getting fuel from Marina Taina. This involved Marc blasting 2.2nm in the dingy and lugging 80L of fuel at a time. We carefully siphoned fuel into our port side tank and after finishing on the starboard side, we heard a gurgle and looked down only to see a diesel geyser! The vent on the starboard side tank was blocked and after some investigation, Marc managed to clear it. Thank goodness we hadn’t attempted to refuel that tank at Marina Taina as it would have been a disaster! The tank vent was blocked with fibreglass dust, so this was clearly not a new issue.
After refuelling, Marc checked out our anchor locker and discovered 55m of rope that had been cut and used as the snubber (a line that is used to reduce strain on the chain while anchoring). Why anyone would have a snubber longer than 15-20m on a vessel this size is beyond us, but it solved our immediate problem of needing more anchor rope.
Finally Sailing
Despite our anchor woes, we decided to up sticks and sail across to Mo'orea Island. We had a glorious sail as it was near perfect conditions. Dolphins farewelled us as we left Tahiti and the breeze picked as we sailed out of the lee of the land. We used our new preventer (a line the stops the boom from swinging accidentally) and it worked like a charm in rolling sea. As we entered Ōpūnohu Bay we were treated to the sensational views of sheer mountains that are blanketed in native forest. It reminded us of home in the Marlborough Sounds!
Our next challenge was however just around the corner. As we were entering the bay, our depth gauge stopped working. This vital piece of navigation equipment is essential when anchoring, especially for us as we need to navigate around shallow reefs and be in a maximum of 20m due to our insufficient anchor chain and rope. There is a shallower anchorage at the head of Ōpūnohu Bay, but when we came through, there were around 30 boats in a small space, so we opted to anchor in the bay.
We used a dive weight on the end of a rope to confirm our depth and dropped anchor. Thankfully we found a good spot in sticky mud. Marc set to work and spliced the two anchor ropes we had together. We now have 45m chain and 65m rope, which is still not ideal. With the current setup retrieving our anchor is quite the process as we pull in the rope using the windlass drum, then we attach the snubber and manually pull in the chain to transfer the chain to the other side of the windlass. In strong wind this would be impossible to do and is unsafe. We need to get this sorted as right now we feel very vunerable!
And just as well we got that anchor rope sorted as last weekend a trough with squalls rolled through and we got smashed by gale force gusts. We let out more scope (anchor rope) and we said a little prayer that Marc’s splice would hold (no pressure!). We decided to keep watch through the night which meant whoever was asleep could rest, rather than both of us being on edge all night. The thunder and lightning was immense as it reverberated through the hills and literally rumbled through Agápē. We had discussed our exit strategy should it get too spicy, but thankfully our anchor held as we swung violently in the wind and visited every boat in the bay (everyone else is on chain)!
Thanks Marc for the videos below, my stress levels were peaking during my watch, therefore picking up my phone was not high on my priority list!
Kind of Exploring Moorea
We ended up ordering a new depth gauge and transducer from the guys at Marine Services in Tahiti. They shipped our goods on the ferry, and we thought we could pick up at our leisure. We got a call from the shop at midday last week telling us we had until 3:30pm to get to the other side of the island to pick up our package from the ferry terminal. Now in the western world, travelling 20km to pick up a package is not a big deal. But on a remote pacific island with limited buses and taxes, we were forced to hitch hike. Thankfully some lovely locals picked us up. One lady driver looked and smelled so nice in her pretty sundress. Meanwhile I looked like a dishevelled, stinking mess in clothes that are starting to look a little thread bare! Cruising in her car with the windows down, reminded me of the freedom I used to have at home. These days, despite being “free” I often feel trapped and confined to our yacht. The challenges of basic logistics and the constant stress of finding and fixing stuff is starting to take its toll.
With our new depth gauge and transducer picked up, Marc once again, set to work fitting them. We also started to make enquiries about where to purchase 100m of 10mm chain. Again, in the western world, not a problem, but on a remote island, it is challenging. We are still waiting to hear back from a couple of suppliers.
We did manage to head out to sting ray city one morning. Unfortunately we did leave a little late, so the site was crawling with tourists and the wind picked up. We had a lumpy ride back to the boat, but it still felt nice to finally get off Agápē and explore. Below is a short video that I can created with the GoPro Quik app. I am notoriously lazy when it comes to video editing, so am loving the app!
After the squall, we moved over to Cooks Bay to refuel and provision. The fuel dock there was described as “easy” but with our drunk baby elephant, we couldn’t be certain that we had enough depth and space to move off the 6m fuel dock safely (yes 6m – half the length of our yacht). I told Marc I felt uneasy about attempting this manoeuvre at low tide and thankfully he obliged me. We also saw several tourism boats using the dock that morning and we did not want to hold them up. As a result, we humped 240L of diesel from the jetty into the dinghy and back to the yacht. It took a couple of hours, but mission accomplished. Well almost.
You would not read about it… Now that the port side diesel tank was full, Marc discovered not one, but two leaks on fittings. Un-f**king believable! When will we stop finding shit that should have been disclosed when we purchased Agápē?!?! Today, while I am on laundry duty, Marc has fixed the leaks in a ridiculously confined space.
Frustrated and Ready to Go Home
After nearly 4 months of refitting Agápē, we can honestly say we are both over it. We feel like we need to press pause for a couple of weeks and rest but that is hard to do when you live on your boat! On our previous boat Caleche, when the weather got spicy or if we ran out of beer, it was an easy sail home to the Waikawa Marina. We are surrounded by beauty but we are not really seeing it and we certainly don’t have time right now to enjoy it.
We have talked to other sailors about our challenges, and they all acknowledge that the first year of owning any boat is tough. One person mentioned Elon Musk’s quote of “chewing glass and staring into the abyss”. We had visions of this dreamy life, but even everyday tasks take way longer and are more physical. Getting the basics of food, water and fuel require way may more thought and planning than when living on land. We both miss regular exercise and fantasize about mountain biking. Oh, how we miss our bikes. I also miss running, swimming and my gym routine. While boat life keeps you relatively fit, it’s not the same. I had hoped I’d be swimming everyday off the boat however the number of speeding tour boats and jet skis (oh and the sharks) make it difficult.
We acknowledge stuff breaks on boats all the time and ongoing maintenance is part of the deal. What is not OK, is not disclosing known issues when selling a boat. If we had known about the leaking holding tank, disconnected AIS, lack of anchor chain, cracked gooseneck, leaking diesel tank, incorrectly installed winches, jammers, and cleats plus the stuffed canvas, we would have walked away from the sale for sure. I am all about transparency and we certainly have a bitter taste in our mouths.
But it is time to look forward and let go of the animosity we have towards the previous owners as it is wasted emotion. They have finally paid us for the hatch repair they should have taken care of months ago, so now it feels like we can close the “refitting” chapter and move on.
Our plan is to sail to Raiatea next week which will be our first decent long, sail and we can’t wait. The sailing bit is the enjoyable stuff! We are hoping we can get our anchor chain in Raiatea and then explore a little more of French Polynesia before heading West to Niue and Tonga.
We are 75% sure that we’ll return to NZ after Tonga. We just need familiar and easy while we address some of the upgrades that need to happen on Agápē. We have literally burned through our savings and need to work to replenish our funds. For now, we’ll keep on keeping on. This has certainly been a tough gig – but what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger… right?!
While we are tired and frustrated, we are also feeling more optimistic that we’ll find our cruising groove soon. I keep reminding myself to trust the flow of the universe and that anything worth doing, is never easy. Thanks to our sisters (Clare and Shaz), mums (Maureen and Lyn), dad (Tom) and friends Suzi and Deano for the chats and words of encouragement - you have helped us to keep going!
This is our journey. Until next time.
Wow what an adventure of highs and lows, loving your stunning photos and stories. Definitely sounds tough, but Im sure youll get through it, enjoy the journey xx
Hang in there guy's. Will be great to see yous again soon