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During a visit to the South Pacific in 1993, we had a stopover in Papeete. My memory is of a dingy hotel with a few bugs for free, a not too vibrant market, and a luggage storage facility at the airport that was closed between 11 and 3. I think Jason only remembers checking up on the Phillies and discovering that they were having a turnaround season.

We were looking forward to docking at the marina to recharge ourselves and Two Fish, but we weren’t overly excited about spending too much time in Papeete.

Needless to say, either our outlooks have changed or Papeete has, but we thoroughly enjoyed our time there. Yes, everything still seems to close between 11 and 3, but who wouldn’t want totake a break from the midday sun and eat a proper lunch. Speaking of food, La Palais des Glaces has super-fantastic ice cream, Carrefours stocks excellent chick pea burgers and the food trucks are the place to go for dinner. After a few nights, the chocolate milk shake woman didn’t need to ask twice for Jason’s order. However, the best food was probably the homemade Chocolate Mousse given to us by a fellow ARC boat (Swiss French, of course).
All of the people we meet are super-friendly and accommodating and greeting strangers on the street with a “Ia ora na” (hello) is expected; “Māuruuru” is thank you.

While here, we have observed a Polynesian cultural oddity: the men love doing wheelies on their bicycles. In both the Society Islands and the Tuamotos, we have seen almost every male bike rider doing wheelies. Blind turn, near a car and rainstorm do not stop the need to do wheelies. I love it, keep poppin’ wheelies!

Tahiti to Huahine from Two Fish on Vimeo.
After cleaning Two Fish and fixing a few items, we knew at some point we needed to leave the dock, so we headed up to Huahine. I can see why some people can spend years in French Polynesia. Huahine alone has many pleasant bays to choose from. We decided to stay near the town of Fare so we could rent some bikes. I am a bit behind in my workouts. Actually, I can’t remember whether I have worked out since St Lucia so the 55km bike ride was a bit of a shock to my system. At one point Jason had to wheel both of our bikes up a steep hill while I followed slowly. It was well worth it as we saw waterfalls and beautiful bays, stopped in a lovely Pareo shop and enjoyed the deep greens and interesting trees.

Another fun excursion was driving One Fish down to the end of the island. Behind the reef, the water was flat and 15 knots felt great. There are so many great spots here and on neighboring islands that I am sure we will re re-visit in the coming years. In fact, in a few days we will join our fellow rally boats and pick up our friends for the leg to Suwarrow but we may just have to visit one more spot before setting off.

When travelling down the inter coastal waterway (ICW) we tried to avoid a rally sponsored by Sail Magazine. We snickered about the group and told our other friends to avoid “the swarm”. Regular updates were swapped on the VHF of swarm sightings and upcoming swarm locations. Now we are on the other side of the coin and have been prejudged and maligned by cruisers outside the ARC rally. To monitor this phenomenon we have created a new language.
ARCmental: to piously judge an ARC rally boat. They were being ARCmental when they said the rally was going too fast, however, they have followed us for the last 5,000 miles.
ARCist: To be hate any member of the ARC rally before any interaction. The ARCist wanted to build a big marina to keep all the ARC boats away from the true cruisers. He plans on asking the Polynesians to pay for it.

 

Photo journal of Two Fish’s Pacific crossing from Galapagos to Marquesas

Despite predictions from canal veterans, our boat was not crushed by a closing lock door, no one fell overboard to be killed by the strong currents or hungry crocodiles and the two day passage was pleasant and stress free.  The rally folks showed their value as we were never  bogged down with agents, paperwork and fees.

Two hundred meters before the lock, boats nest in pre-arranged sets of three.  Our nest partners were our sister ship Kristal and a small monohull.   The now fifty-five foot wide craft was half the width of the canal so it was a much easier fit than a Panamax ship.  We entered the lock and messengers lines were tossed to Two Fish from canal employees.   The lines had the potential to break our solar panels so we had covered them with cushions.  After the messenger lines landed, we had to tie them to huge lines that had been lent to us by the agent.   The lines are 7/8 of an inch so would not fit through any of Two Fish’s collection of snatch blocks. Instead, we retasked a soft loop to become a fairlead.  This held the line at an angle away from the bow seat.

Lines safely attached, the line handlers on our nest took out the slack as the lock filled with water to raise us up to the height of Gatun Lake.  The canal allows a boat to climb up and then down over the mountains on the isthmus.  After doing this process through three locks, our day was over and we grabbed a large mooring ball for rafting in Gatun Lake.  In the morning, 25 miles of motoring brought us to the down locks.  But before we reached the locks we had to pass the famous Galliard cut.    And before we knew it, we were in the Pacific and lock veterans ready to dispense our own advice regarding what is an easy operation.

Some other boats had a few mishaps.  One dropped anchor by accident while in the lock.  Never found out why.  Another boat had a broken cleat caused by improper line handling.   And another boat had their skipper cut their hand while nesting up.   Not too bad a damage report.  No crocodile deaths!

We did eat very well during our two days in the canal system because we had to feed the canal advisor aboard.  The crew asked him to stay until Australia so we could have great food the whole time. Gail maintains that the galley is more receptive to producing good meals in calm waters.

Next stop Las Perlas islands.

 

We rejoined the ARC fleet three days after our unsanctioned early departure. We had missed the awards dinner for Leg 1. Two Fish grabbed a trophy – third for the catamarans. The day after we left, Port Control of Santa Marta shut down the

port. The rally organizers tried to change Port Control’s decision; I found this to be curious. Another curious decision was to make the leg to the San Blas a “racing” leg. It is a leg with heavy wind and difficult reefs. Enough of me judging things with imperfect information. Two Fish made it safely and that is the end of my job.

Our sister-ship Kristal had a great ride downwind, testing her new third reef in the main sail in 30-40 knots of breeze. With a tiny main and tiny genoa, the boat was sprinting along at double-digit speeds. They passed a racy monohull who responded with hoisting more sail area and then a few minutes later the monohull had a dramatic broach (tipped on her side).

We had fun helping a fellow ARC boat come into the harbor. They arrived just as the sun had set. We turned on every light on the boat. We radioed them to let them

know there was plenty of room to anchor off our stern. I then watched their AIS path on the chartplotter and offered assurances. They were very appreciative of the help and the electronic tracks we had given them back in Santa Marta. We now have an open bar awaiting us on another boat.

The morning in Swimming Pool anchorage started early as I boarded the paddleboard to greet every ARC boat and invite them to drinks aboard Two Fish. The anchorage is large so it took almost two hours to reach all of the boats. My speed was slowed by the wind but the real speed killer was my need to catch up with each boat. I do not mind a good chat. My paddleboard attracted a ray as I passed over shallow water.

James has been doing many great things for Two Fish during his stay. His Antares claim to fame is that he built the deck mold. His Two Fish claims to fame are many but today he was after a noise in the guest cabin that sounded like shrimp eating. Gail overheard the conversation and was concerned as she took it literally. It was a bit of the core rubbing.   At first this was mis-diagnosed as delamination. Good news it was nothing of the kind. When James and Jackie are not trying to make Two Fish the best Antares ever built, they spend time swimming, spotting turtles and eating potato chips. Gail and I made another repair to the boat. The autopilot had been making small unnecessary turns. The owners forum reminded me of the bonehead move we had done. The extra Volvo Oil and Fuel filters were too close to the fluxgate compass and were confusing it. Filters moved and our autopilot’s behavior was back to normal today.

While I was out paddling, there was plenty of adventure on Two Fish. Jackie was adjusting the cushion on the lounge chair and found a 5 foot snake underneath. Since the first telling of the story it has grown to 6 feet. She quickly exited the area and summoned James. He also decided to summon some help and walked over to Gail at the bow. “Gail, we have a situation”, she heard, wondering what it could be. “We have a snake aboard”, he said. It took a few second to digest this information as she walked forward. They pointed out where it was and waited for some action. Fortunately, the boat brush

was out of the locker so Gail asked James to grab it. Jackie went to get the boat hook. With James standing by on broom duty, Gail flipped the cushion off the snake with the boat hook. The snake raised its head and stuck out its tongue. Gail shoved it towards the stern and James joined in with the brush. A few minutes later the snake was off the boat via the stern steps, but not before Jackie took a parting photo. The snake seemed to sink to the bottom, but we are not one hundred percent sure. The conversation afterward mourned the snake. Gail thought she should have put it in a trash bag and had me paddle it to shore.

A bunch of theories have arisen as to his provenance. Did mister snake sneak aboard via the dinghy when we visited the Southern San Blas? Or, did the snake board while Two Fish was on the hard in Grenada? Is there a family of snakes living in the guest cabin? We think we have checked everywhere. When I returned to the boat, I was chided for not being appreciative of the gravity of a snake visit. In the past week we have caught 8 flying flying, 2 sardines and snake without taking the pole out of the locker. We also will be eating fresh sword fish, a gift from another rally boat.

With the excitement of the snake wearing off we spotted new adventure on the horizon.   A non rally boat had put her self on the reef. The skipper had told me he looked away for a moment. The folks on the bow were pointing to turn but all too late. The first 10 feet of the boat were high and dry.   The bow thruster was out of the water. We were the first dinghy on the scene. I had brought a 200 foot line along as well.   They were dumping their water tanks but this not a solution.

The small tide was going out and this only made the situation worse. I spoke to the skipper and proposed that we help him heel the boat over using and anchor attached to his mast. His crew tried to get out their kedge (secondary anchor) but it was deeply buried in the locker. In the intermin 6 other dinghies had arrived. Some with 40hp engines and eager to use their rpm’s.   The crowd convinced the skipper that shoving him off the reef was the right call. Swimmers in the water scurried away in fear and the boat was shoved.   More digging of coral by the swimmers and more shoving and he was free. Some cosmetic damage to the rudder but otherwise the boat seemed ok.   Hint do not buy a used Dufour 50 from Los Angles.

At 5 pm the ARC rally folks started arriving at Two Fish for the party. It did not take long to realize the fellow ralliers are awesome. They came with such kindness, great gifts and super conversation.   These are going to be great folks to spend the next year with. We broke the record for the most people on Two Fish at one time: 51.

Some cruisers stay anchored in the San Blas for months. They make their own water, eat food from their extensive stores, but have no home for their trash. A social event is the weekly trash burn.   This was announced on the radio yesterday. One of our friends radioed in and asked for details. Immediately thereafter, someone interrupted the announcement telling us in a stern voice that rally boats do not burn trash. No more comments.

 

 

The calmest times on the boat, whether on a passage or not, are the early morning hours. Nothing beats having a cup of warm coffee and watching the night disappear. At Mamitipu, just before dawn, I thought I was the only person on the water until I saw the outline of a canoe being rowed from the island village to land. Shortly thereafter, as the sun began to appear, another canoe and another glided past. It was morning rush hour at Manitipu, except this one was distinctly not the usual rush hour as everyone had a smile and a wave for me.

Yesterday, an older man paddled by the boat. After some back and forth, we realized he was requesting payment for staying in their bay. He had with him an official looking pad with an old piece of ditto paper. After thumbing through the pages, I figured out the cost was USD 10. I filled in the form,in duplicate, and gave him the money. Then he offered up some embroidered patches for sale. We bit.

We had read that the remote villages have nightly congressos, led by the village chief, so that the people can discuss and debate the matters of the day. I wonder whether anyone brought up the presence of the foreign boat as a news item? We certainly discussed them during our nightly meal, wondering what they do on the mainland and reflecting on how content the people of Mamitupu seemed.

Well it’s been an experience and a half traveling on Two Fish. Jason and Gail have been great hosts and we are enjoying our time together, both onboard and ashore. Our adventure started at the Toronto airport.  We ran into Bert, who saw our foul weather coats and asked if we were destined for the ARC rally like him. Turns out he is from the same town as Jackie in Cape Breton and even knows who her Dad is! What’s yer faders name?
St Lucia was beautiful with its lush tropical mountains, balmy breezes, and friendly people. We spent a few days prepping the boat and shoved off at noon for the start of the ” race ” to Santa Marta Colombia. The start was 35 cruising sailboats beating to windward in the opposite direction to our destination, all in all an exciting start. This leg gave us following seas and winds from 15 to 35 knots. We quickly fell into our routine of 2 hour watches with 6 off and scheduled on-board cleaning duties. Jackie and I ran our watches together as we found it more enjoyable to have company, either in the helm chair or snoozing in the cockpit, especially during our 6 to 10 pm and 2 to 6 am night watches. Skies were clear the whole time with blue skies by day and a blanket of stars at night from horizon to horizon. The North Star reminded us of home, although it was much lower in the sky. Two Fish performed well and we were able to finish ahead of the other two PDQ/ Antares in the fleet. Pretty sure this was a result of Jason’s many sail changes; when there is nothing to do, change out a sail!
The approach to Santa Marta, Colombia was spectacular with impressive mountains and cliffs dipping into the ocean and a spirited sea with 35 knots of breeze. The marina is surrounded by mountains and is quite modern and very peaceful ( peaceful as in calm water, maybe not the salsa bands that usually shut down around 5 am ). There is definitely a large social and economical gap here between the have and have-nots. Although everyone seems happy and content with a devotion to Family.
Our plan is to shove off soon and head for the San Blas Islands for a week or so. I am told they are amazing with rich culture and world class diving. From there our next stop is Colon Panama where Jackie and I will sadly depart the good ship Two Fish and make our way to Panama City for a few days of sight seeing and then make our way back to Florida for the rest of the season. This trip has given us some destination ideas for the next cruise aboard our beloved sailboat Cheemaun. Thanks Jason and Gail for this opportunity!!
Btw…that port forward cabin sure is quiet!!
Jackie and James Power ( the two new crew fish aboard Two Fish)