Leaving for Suwarrow Today

We have had a wonderful time here at Mopelia (aka Mauphaa). The wind has been calm, the anchorage lovely, the friendship and activities outstanding. Boats here: Soggy Paws, Don Quixote, Night Fly, Loose Pointer, Dreamaway, and Blue Moon.

We have had campfires on the beach every night, and every day there was another activity--diving, snorkeling, beach walking, coconut crab hunting, lobstering (at night), and always someone to do it with. We could easily stay here for a month.

But the wind has filled in and there's a good weather window for the 4-5 day trip to Suwarrow.

Don Quixote left yesterday for Aitutake, and everyone else is leaving today for Suwarrow.

I hope to get back-post more details and pictures from our time here. But for now... have to go get ready to haul anchor!
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At 8/15/2011 5:12 PM (utc) our position was 16°46.69'S 153°57.07'W
http://svsoggypaws.com/currentposition.htm

Mopelia - A 'Not To Be Missed' Final Stop in French Polynesia

Almost all of our friends have hurried out of French Polynesia--mostly because their 90-day visa is up, and there is NO EXTENSION POSSIBLe once you are 'in country'. Some have set off on the Southern Cooks route... Aitutake - Palmerston, etc. Others have set off on the Northern Cooks route... Suwarrow. One boat has actually gone north up to Penrhyn, and then on to Suwarrow.

But there are two seldom-visited places at the tail end of French Polynesia (after we have checked out)... Maupiti and Mopelia.

Maupiti is only 25 miles from Bora Bora. But it is a little problematic this time of year--the pass faces south and if there's much of a southerly swell running, it can be impassable. We wanted to go there, but with the current weather, we could get in, but might get trapped there for a few days. So we chose instead to go directly to Mopelia.

Mopelia is 130 miles downwind from Bora Bora. There used to be a village at Mopelia, but a large cyclone in the 90's swept the town away. Now there are only a couple of families living in the southern motu. There is no store. There is no supply boat. There are no charter boats. There are no tourists.

Our friends on Don Quixote made an unplanned stop here a couple of days ago and have said "we may never leave". It is a Tuamotu in the Society Islands--far from the tourist crowds--almost unihabited--great diving--beautiful beaches--clear water. (See Don Quixote's blog link on the left).

We made the overnight jump last night, and came in the pass an hour ago. We too think we have arrived in Paradise. Arriving boats can pick their own half mile of deserted beach to pull up in front of. We are anchored in 20' of sand, near some nice snorkeling coral heads, off a beautiful palm-studded white sand beach. Another boat here, Loose Pointer, just made a dive outside the pass and said it was the best diving he has done in a LONG time.

The weather will be too light to head NW to Suwarrow for 4-5 days. So we are 'stuck' here til at least the 15th. Darn!!

Bonfire on the beach tonight--full moon. Wish you all could be here with us!!
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Sherry & Dave
In French Polynesia til August, then west toward Tonga
http://svsoggypaws.blogspot.com

At 8/11/2011 1:08 AM (utc) our position was 16°46.70'S 153°57.07'W
http://svsoggypaws.com/currentposition.htm

Underway for Mopelia

We worked hard for 2 days--even passing up a chance at a hike and a scuba dive--to get ready to leave this morning.

Sunday was spent reorganizing our boat for 'at sea' conditions, and putting away the toys (kayaks and bicycles) we got out for Fred & Suki's visit. Early Monday morning, we left our nice mooring (and good wifi) at Bloody Mary's and headed for town, where we fill up with fuel, got groceries, and checked out of French Polynesia for good.

Once we got our town chores done, we moved to the pretty anchorage west of the north end of Motu Toopua. This is a really nice spot--pretty, somewhat remote from town, and with OK wifi. Wish we could have stayed there longer. But it was time to move on.

We sailed out the pass at Bora Bora at 0845 this morning, and saw a couple of whales!! What a nice start for a passage.

We have been mostly running Dead Down Wind (DDW) all day. We are using the 'Tom Service' configuration--genoa on a pole to windward, main vanged out to leeward, and the staysail in the middle. This is surprisingly stable, even in pretty big seas. Our autopilot will hold a course with this configuration pretty well, and it's the maximum sail area we can spread.

In the late afternoon, we tried going over on a starboard tack for awhile. It worked for a bit, but then the wind came around, and we went back to our DDW configuration.

The wind is only about 12 knots, and the seas are calming down. But we would like to make the pass at Mopelia by about noon, so we are hoping for a couple of more knots of wind. For awhile we were only making 3.8 knots, and that wouldn't cut it, but we are up to about 4.5-5kts, which will do fine.
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Sherry & Dave
In French Polynesia til August, then west toward Tonga
http://svsoggypaws.blogspot.com

At 8/10/2011 5:48 AM (utc) our position was 16°35.94'S 152°37.74'W
http://svsoggypaws.com/currentposition.htm