Author: richwest3

August 21, 2012

One yacht club perk that we did not anticipate was the proximity to whales in the lagoon! In particular, we had a mother and calf who made several appearances not too far from our boat.

We soon realized we had a sort of warning system when they were about (at least in the afternoon). All we had to do was look outside and if there was an assortment of dinghies, canoes, paddle-boards, power boats, and perhaps a sailboat or two all grouped up, they were probably following whales.

The first time we saw this, we jumped in the dinghy and went check it out. We followed along, but of course we were worried: was all this harassing the whales? We followed and watched as mother an calf were amazingly close to one dinghy, and then another dinghy. Some of the local guys were very close in their canoe and got in the water with masks and snorkels.

We stayed with all this for about 15 minutes, and we noticed the whales did not seem bothered at all. The calf played and even breached at one point. Mom would surface, then they might both dive but would surface not far away. When she decided she was done with all of us, she and the calf simply headed out of range, and the band of boats dispersed. I had the camera for this, but unfortunately it didn’t focus properly so my footage is blurry. Plus, it’s very hard hold and camera and try to actually see the whales at the same time.

The second time we saw the congregation of boats, we had some friends over. Rich noticed a group of boats starting to gather and said, “I think we have whales.” We jumped into our friends’ dinghy and headed over.

I was dismayed to realize that in our haste to go I had forgotten our camera, but this turned out to be a blessing in disguise. On this day, we had great whale watching of a mom and calf, sometimes right next to the boat! It was incredible, and because I didn’t have a camera, I was fully in the moment. I realize you have to be careful with a camera, because you can end up recording events but not living them. So, we have no video footage or pictures from that day, but I think back on it and remember the whales, not my struggles with the camera.

After looking over the blurry, erratic, Blair-Witch-style video of our first outing, Rich has managed to extract this picture. (I won’t hold my breath waiting a call from National Geographic.) -Cyndi

August 21, 2012

We started having trouble with our radar as we left Moorea and while we were at Raiatea. Simrad, the manufacturer, decided that our raydome needed to be replaced. Since it was a new unit, they were great about sending us a replacement. They only problem was getting it shipped to Bora Bora.

As it turned out, it wasn’t all that difficult. We used CMA, our agent who helped us through customs in French Polynesia, to arrange the shipping. What was difficult was getting the big box into the dinghy and installing the new radar half way up the mast while rolling from the wakes of passing boats. We managed with little difficulty.

Once in New Zealand, we’re going to post an equipment review section on our web site to discuss what worked and what didn’t during the trip across the Pacific. Stay tuned. -Rich

August 20, 2012

It’s said that boats are about compromise. You compromise when you choose a heavy boat over a light one; the heavy one carries more supplies and fuel but is slower in light winds. One mast versus two, or vice versa is a compromise. With two masts you can fly two smaller, easier to handle sails. With one mast, you have fewer sails to manage. You compromise when you choose 40 feet over 50 feet. The longer boat is faster, but more expensive and many of us out here have about all the boat we can afford. We lack sufficient funds for a bigger boat. That’s not all we lack.

Cyndi and I are often lacking fresh water (or at least we’d like to have more). We can make more with our watermaker, but then we have to use electricity, which we must ration. We can make more electricity but we only have so much diesel fuel to run the engine to make more electricity. On Legacy, we only have enough electricity for a refrigerator and not a freezer so we’re often lacking the foods we like.

We often lack the parts we need to repair one thing or another. We can only take so many spares because we lack the space to carry more. We can only buy so many spares because boat stuff is expensive and we lack unlimited funds.

It seems we are constantly managing scarce resources. “Lack” may sum up cruising better than “compromise.”

But we also have incredible abundance out here. We have an overwhelming abundance of beauty all around us. We have an abundance of time to read and relax and to spend with each other. Cyndi and I have found an abundance of great people to spend our abundant free time with. Amazing sunrises and sunsets are abundant and we see almost all of them. We travel in a abundant lands where fresh fruit hangs from trees and the waters are rich with fish.

I think I’ll focus on the abundance and not lack.

That’s all for now. I need to start the watermaker. Our batteries are a little low so I guess I’d better start the engine and run it while we make water. Oh, and also, I should put some fuel in the tank if I’m going to run the engine. That reminds me, we should take the empty fuel jugs to town and fill them today. Oh, if we’re going to town, we could also use some groceries. I hope we have enough cash.. -Rich

Update… January 2016…

Lack’s pressure has eased a bit for us because of some of the recent improvements on Legacy. We added a large solar panel and now have all the electricity we need. Because of this, we can run the watermaker more and take longer showers. We went an entire season without running the engine to charge batteries and therefore, we used much less fuel. We installed a new refrigerator that has a small freezer compartment and so provisions last through long stays in remote anchorages.

Even with these improvements, we still have to manage lack, but it’s even easier to focus on the abundance all around us!

August 18, 2012

One of the great things about staying at a yacht club is there’s always a place for an impromptu gathering with your friends (sundowners). It’s especially great when the club serves cold beer and has spectacular sunset views. -Cyndi

Business meeting, French Polynesia style!