Volcano de la Fornaise

A few days ago we got up early and drove up to the volcano. Via some very very impressive scenery. Lots more photos to come but our laptop has died so getting photos uploaded is a problem. But we did remember to take one with the itouch. It was a long hard walk, especially when we can only walk 40 foot in one direction!!

We are now waiting for a decent weather window to make our jump to south Africa. Even the professional weather routers don't reckon we should leave before Sunday. So until then we'll carry on enjoying Reunion.

Take care,
Lots of love,

Ocean Lady

St Pierre, Reunion

Dear all,
Due to timing issues, logistics with avoiding the ARC and having to hold off until daybreak we unfortunately had to miss Mauritius from our itinerary.
The Marina in Mauritius was block booked by the arc, there are no other marinas only an anchorage10 miles away from the port, but you still need to go to the Marina to clear customs!!!!

So, we are now in Reunion a small island 100 miles west of Mauritius. It has a population of 800,000 people and is owned by the French. It is typically French and feels like we are in Marina in Brittany. Every one is again very friendly and welcoming.

We arrived yesterday afternoon to be met by Mike from Finnish Line who took our lines and joined us for a beer. Today we have been exploring checking emails, purchasing local sim cards and finding out what are the key things to do. One of the worlds most active volcanos is just two hours drive away so we are hoping to hire a car and have a look.

We'll let you know what we find.

Hope everyone at home is well, lots of love,
Ocean Lady

Good bye Rodrigues

Dear all,

After a bit of a nuisance with clearing customs we have left Rodrigues and
are heading towards Mauritius. The sea is larger than expected but that
seems to be dying down now. We are making good time but our heading isn't
the best.

Our current position is : 20 17S, 60 14E and everything is good on board.

Love Ocean Lady

Cyclone Anais and leaving Rodrigues

Dear all,

After a very pleasant stay in Rodrigues it is time to set sail again. Our stay here has been lengthened by a few days due to a tropical cyclone that had developed to the north east of us. When the forecast says sea state phenomenal we should stay well away!!

We hope to leave tomorrow and it should take a few days to get to Mauritius.

We hope everyone at home is well,
Lots of love,
Ocean Lady

Rodrigues

Dear all,

We are enjoying Rodrigues. The island has a very Caribbean feel. We have
hired a car and visited the interior of the island, seeing a tortoise
sanctuary. One of the giant tortoises weighed over 240kgs and was 90 years
old. I hope I don't weigh that much when I'm 90!!!
We are in company with with a few other boats that we met in Cocos. Deano
and his daughter Sasha on Hadar, Lars on Twister and Paul on Rebellion.
Twister is a 28ft designed Twister and Rebellion and Albin Vega 26ft long!!!
You don't need a big boat to do this!
Unfortunately Lars broke his forestay on the crossing so we are helping him
cobble something together. We also did a rig check only to find some very
suspect split pins.

We will probably be here for a few more days before heading to Mauritius.
Mauritius is likely to be very busy the marina has already confirmed that
they cannot accommodate us due to the World ARC being hosted, unfortunately
there is only one marina!!

Hope everybody is well at home,

Lots of Love,

Ocean Lady

Land Ahoy!!

Dear all,

The subject says it all, We can see land! Yippee. Only a small island but
still its land.
We are still 20nm away and expect to get there around 1pm our time. Our
current position is:
19 35S, 63 47E

Sorry to all those avid followers who have been actively plotting our
progress on Google/Charts etc, we decided not to post our positions going
across the Indian Ocean in case Capt Black beard or Jack Sparrow were
watching.
But now we are arriving in Rodrigues, here were our positions so you can
update your
charts:

Left Cocos 27/9/12
12 50S, 94 26E 28/9/12
13 34S, 92 10E 29/9/12
14 11S, 90 29E 30/9/12
14 54S, 88 07E 01/10/12
15 30S, 85 31E 02/10/12
16 03S, 83 02E 03/10/12
16 31S, 80 45E 04/10/12
16 48S, 78 21E 05/10/12
17 03S, 75 51E 06/10/12
17 51S, 73 15E 07/10/12
18 18S, 70 59E 08/10/12
18 49S, 68 11E 09/10/12
19 13S, 65 51E 10/10/12

Lots of Love,
Ocean Lady

One more night?

Dear all,

One more night to go before we arrive in Rodrigues. We currently have 139nm
to go, so we should be arriving around late morning tomorrow (at this
speed), however the wind always seems to decrease in the night. When we
reach 120nm to go in day light we know we'll be able to get in tomorrow!!
Current weather is 20-25 knots of wind from the ESE, slight to moderate sea
and sunny blue sky. Without sun glasses the brightness hurts your eyes.
We will be +4 hours ahead of the UK when we reach Rodrigues, so we are
getting back to a sensible time zone - which seems to have happened really
quickly.

We hope everyone at home is well,
Lots of love,
Ocean Lady

Still Going!!

Dear all,
We are still going making good progress, the sun is out, but still a strong
wind - from a favourable direction.
Yesterday we had a treat of Soda bread and Lemon drizzle cake courtesy of
Laura's cooking day.

Love Ocean Lady

Better weather!

Dear all,

We have had better weather, still fairly windy, but sunny clear skies,
allowing jobs to be done and clothes to be aired out. We have even managed
to have a shower!

Counting down the days now - and number of double shift night watches left!

Hope everybody at home is well,
Love Stu and Laura xxx

Still Lively!

Dear all,

Its still lively on board, but the skies are clear from rain clouds which
makes all the difference. We are making good progress and battling on. Food
only comes up in bowls! All the hatches are shut and the wash boards in.
725 nm to go, which should put us in later this week. Oh for a toilet and a
bed that doesn't move!

Love Ocean Lady

Over half way

Dear all,
We are making good progress with less than 890nm to go. Conditions are
lively with strong easterlies force 7-8.

Love Ocean Lady

Good progress

Dear all,

We are making good progress towards Rodrigues, the weather has abated and
conditions onboard are much kinder. Laura is on cook duty today and a lovely
cottage pie is waiting in the oven - just one more hour!!!

Love Ocean Lady x

Passage across the Indian Ocean

Dear all,

We are having an eventful passage across from Cocos. The wind has been
favourable, but the past 24 hours have been 25-30 knots on the beam. The
windows have been shut and it is very stuffy down below. The cockpit has had
a couple of rogue waves jump into it!

A couple of days ago we had autopilot problems and we were looking at having
to hand steer to Rodrigues - this wasn't a nice thought, and fortunately in
Al's chandlery we have fixed the problem.

We are making good progress and have less than 1300 nm to go!

Hope all is well at home,

Lots of love,
Ocean Lady

Day four

Dear all,

We are making good progress towards Rodrigues, with favourable weather. We
had a couple rain squalls yesterday which pasted through quite quickly.

Unfortunately the autopilot "George" decided it was time for a break and
stopped working - mildly inconvenient!! After a night of hand steering
George is back in action, few says the crew! The thought of 10 days of hand
steering was a little worrying!

Additionally we have visited by a crab that managed to find his / her way
down below into the saloon, and plenty of flying fish and flying squids!

Hope everybody at home is well,

Lots of love,
Ocean Lady

Leaving Cocos Keeling

Hello Everyone

Since our last email, we have snorkelled 'the Rip' a few more times, had
sharks swim alongside us, beautiful coral and colourful fish! We claimed a
small island with just a few coconut trees overlooking stunning turquoise
waters as our own by flying the union Jack. We hosted a BBQ on Direction
Island with the guys of a boat called Bronwyn and Twister, provisioned up
and welcomed the World Arc fleet to Cocos Keeling. The past few days have
been pretty sociable with happy hour on Direction Island.

We had a great stay in Cocos Keeling, despite being a tiny little atoll in
the middle of the Indian ocean it has so much history! Its completely
Idylic and before we knew it 6 days past by so quickly!

We have now left Cocos Keeling and are embarking on our next passage, so far
we have good winds! We have a new radio network with a number of other
boats doing a similar route to us, which is always nice! Earlier we heard
the Cocos Keeling police announce over the radio that they were about to
destroy two illegal immigrant boats that were towed in a few days ago, so
that was a bit of drama on the waters for us.

So far all is great onboard! we'll keep you all updated on our progress.

Love to all at home
Ocean Lady

Cocos Keeling Islands/World

Dear all,

Cocos Keeling is such a quaint little place, heavily subsidised by the
Australian Government with 65% of population unemployed, the result is a
very chilled out atmosphere, nobody is stressed. None of them are poor, they
drive pretty smart golf buggys around, they have good labelled food in the
shops and dress in very beautiful saris as they are muslim. Everyone is
happy, smiling and welcoming towards us. Its like a little remote world,
with little work but a very very peaceful life! We are anchored off
Direction Island which is an uninhabited island which is like a desert
island! its so so so stunning! The waters around us are so clear its like
a swimming pool, with the different shades of turquoise gleaming off the
water the deeper it gets. Getting around you can only use your dinghy, so to
go shopping you speed over to the main Island and then bring it back passing
the most stunning idyllic scenery, a far cry from our drive home from
Sainsbury's!!! We have a school of five Black tipped reef sharks close to
the boat and we have been in swimming with them. The Customs officer
described them akin to mongrel dogs!

On our first day here we were invited to a BBQ on Direction Island with the
other boats anchored in the bay. Many doing a similar route to South Africa.
A great night was had, and hope we will catch up with some of the boats over
the next couple of months. On Saturday we made our way to West Island to
see what was there! One supermarket that sold more conventional products and
an airport! Yesterday we snorkelled the RIP a local drift snorkel, on the
end of direction island. Tomorrow we hope to do the RIP again and try and
find the local Dugong - the locals call him/her "Kat"(sea cow).

Unfortunately we have had generator problems that has, meant we have been
doing repairs in Paradise but we have our fingers crossed that it is fixed
now. We also had the fun of getting fuel today with three trips of 2 miles
each way to the jetty with 4 jerry cans, 4 water cans and 2 gas bottles!!!
But its done now!

We hope everyone at home is well,

We anticipate leaving later this week for our next leg.

Lots of love,
Ocean Lady

Safely arrived at Cocos Keeling

Hi Everyone

Ocean Lady arrived at Cocos Keeling around 7:30 local time (we are around 6
hours ahead of UK now).

After about 4 days of good trade wind sailing, we managed to make up some
distance and arrive in 14 days which was our prediction. We have had
beautiful bright sunshine the whole way, until we arrived and dropped anchor
and the sky turned grey and we are now waiting for the rain to disappear!
As we dropped anchor we had two little black tipped reef sharks
circling our boat, they were very cute!

We aren't allowed off the boat now until customs come to check us in, so
everyone is catching up on some much needed rest after the night watches.

Hope all is well

Ocean Lady

Nearly land ahoy!

Dear all,

We are less than 90nm to go! Yippee!! We are all looking forward to a swim
and a full nights sleep!

The wind is a little too light to sail so we have resorted to motorsailing
with a confused sea, but we have enough fuel we are glad to report!

Our noon position was 12 00S, 98 24E

Lots of love,

Ocean Lady

Another Birthday

Dear all,

We are making good progress towards the Cocos Keeling Islands and today we
are celebrating Margarets' 21st Birthday. A good excuse for cake!!

Our Noon position was 12 33S, 103 49E with just over 400 miles left to go.

Lots of love,
Ocean Lady

Prawn Curry

Dear all,

Not such an exciting email today! We are still plodding along with little
wind, although occasionally the current helps our cause.

A big thank you to Craig for providing the Prawns in tonight's Prawn Curry!

Our position at noon today was 12 47S, 106 07E with 550 nm to go!

Take care,

Lots of Love,
Ocean Lady

Fw: Darramy on Tour

-----Original Message-----
From: Sue Farrer
Sent: Friday, August 03, 2012 8:38 AM
To: 'Mark & Deb Crowe (sea Cycle)' ; 'martyn Vega Kite Surfer' ;
'Matt.Allen' ; 'maxine lomas' ; 'Michael Dunn' ; 'Michael.Liley ' ; 'Mike
and Kath.T.M.' ; 'Mike Bentham (Big Mick) Gaffers' ; 'Mike.Hart1' ; 'Ming' ;
'Neil & Tracy Batcheler.Adonde' ; 'Neil Roobottom' ; 'Nicky Wallace' ;
'Ocean Lady' ; 'Pam & Alan Maxwell ' ; 'PAM.WILSON' ; 'Paul & Pam.Tyers' ;
'Paul and Mariso Cool running' ; 'paul.megan' ; 'Roger and Penny' ;
'Superted'
Subject: FW: Darramy on Tour

Hi everyone - what is Brian like ..... well here goes. I now have all his
friends listed in my contacts and I will pass on all his messages to you as
where he is at present he is having difficulty sending messages.

Brian says.....

Hi folks,

Well once again things have changed if you have been trying to find our
location on the Pangollin site, they have altered it, you now have to use
this link which I understand has been checked by our UK support team!
http://www.pangolin.co.nz/xtras/yotreps/tracker.php?ident=mbdf4 The text
is shown at the bottom of the page. so if you put this link in your
favourites, you should be able to find us at the touch of a button!

At present we are now in the Tuamotos, Wow, pretty spectacular so far!

Thanks to Sue F for distributing this as we have no real e mail out here in
the sticks, and PS dont let her sell you any raffle tickets!

Brian and Sue



Regards
Sue

Whales!

Dear all,

The subject says it all, today we were graced by a pod of whales, most
likely humpbacks, but they didn't come too close. It was lovely to them is
there natural environment, graceful and undisturbed apart from some sailors
from the UK! Even better to see some live whales after a close encounter
(almost T-boning) with a dead whale floating on the surface a few nights ago
at twilight. These were the first whales we have seen in over 17,000 miles
of sailing apart from the snorkelling trip to the Great Barrier Reef!

We have less than 700 miles to go after a superb sail through the night,
beam reaching with full main and yankee, touching 7 - 8 knots most of the
night. Now the wind has shifted to the East and died leaving a moderate
swell that just knocks the wind out of the sails, So we have resorted to
motor sailing with the genoa and yankee poled out. The sound of the main
sail crashing from side to side was so bad we had to take it down!

Our position at noon today was 12 44S, 108 47E

Take care,

Lots of Love,
Ocean Lady

Hello from Ocean Lady

Dear all,

We are still making good progress towards the Cocos Keeling Islands.
Unfortunately the favourable current has decreased, but we are still sailing
with fairly favourable winds.
Our noon position was: 12 38S, 111 10E

We worked out today that since returning to Fiji we have done 4480 miles,
almost the equivalent of sailing from the Marquesas to Fiji and back again!!

Hope everyone at home is well,

Lots of Love,
Ocean Lady

Best days run yet!!

Dear all,

Yesterday was our best days run during the entire trip, we managed 180nm
between 8am Thurs and 8am Fri and all under sail!!
Plenty of current to help us and favourable winds.

Although the wind has dropped and moved to the SW we are still making good
progress and hope to make Cocos in 6 more days.

Hope everyone at home is well,

Lots of Love,
Ocean Lady

Nearly half way!

Dear all,

We are nearly half way through our passage to the Cocos Keeling Islands. The
wind has been a fairly constant SE Force 5, and we have the equatorial
current pushing us along between 0.5 - 1.0 knots. Fingers crossed for
another 140+ days run.
Last night was full of fishing vessels with undistinguishable navigation
lights, but by day we have seen one ship! There must be a rock or cave that
they hide in during the day!

Our noon position was 12 27S, 116 44E

Take care,

Ocean Lady

We have wind!

Dear all,

We are making good progress towards Cocos Keeling with less than 1300nm to
go. Today was the day that the wind filled in, and since 0600 we haven't had
to use the engine - long may this continue!

The wind is a nice force 5 from the SSE, we are making 6 knots on course -
Yippee

Our noon position was 12 18S, 119 10E

Hope everybody at home is well,

Love,
Ocean Lady

Wind at last

Dear all,

We have been able to switch the engine off and sail since early this
morning. We have full main, genoa and a poled out yankee depending on the
wind angle. Lots of sail area! We are able to make between 4 and 6 knots in
the direction wanted so it is all good.

Today we have celebrated Alan and Margarets wedding anniversary, and
Margaret cooked us a banana cake with some bananas that were over ripe!

Our noon position was 12 06S, 123 06E and all is good on board.

Love Ocean Lady

Goodbye Darwin!

Hello Everyone

We are now into day 2 of our journey from Darwin to the Cocos Keeling
Islands. As predicted we have very little wind, so we currently have the
engine on.

This morning Stu and Laura saw a sea snake minding its own business swimming
around. The sun is shining and we are settling back into life offshore!

Stir-fry on the menu for dinner tonight!

All good onboard, looking forward to some stronger winds! Lots of love to
all at home!

Ocean Lady
x

Good bye Darwin

Dear all,

 

After a crackin’ few days we have approached the time to depart Darwin. It was great to meet Alan’s family, Tony, Coral, Bill and Mary. We had some great meals out and managed to have a BBQ in Australia with them. A big thank you to them for making the effort to come and visit us.

 

We also managed to catch up with Craig who acted as one of line handlers through the Panama Canal. As promised he put a shrimp on the Bar-bee for us. – well at least a box of Shrimps for our freezer.

 

Our BBQ at Mary and Bill’s apartment

 

Prawns from Craig

 

Once we clear customs tomorrow morning we hope to exit Darwin and head for the Cocos Keeling Islands, 2000 nmiles away. This leg of the voyage should take some 14 days; however very little wind is forecasted at the moment.  

 

 

Australia!!

Dear all,

 

Some photos from the trip to Australia,

 

Taxi for one bird!

 

Happy birthday Laura, Thank you Claire B for the comedy spectacles!

 

Australia Here We Come!!!

 

Arrival in Cairns

 

Travelling on the Kuranga Railway

 

Laura cuddling a Koala!

 

More to follow! We are now in a marina in Darwin and enjoying some rest and relaxation. Alan and Margaret have met up with some family members and we are getting a few little jobs ticked off before leaving at the end of the week for the Cocos (Keeling) Islands.

 

Love Ocean Lady

 

 

Arrival in Darwin

Dear all,

After lots of sun and very little wind Ocean lady pulled into Fannie Bay, Darwin in the early hours this morning.

We have to be disinfected before being able to move into a Marina. This was done this morning and we hope to move tomorrow morning.

Sorry for the lack of emails but we ran out of credit on the sat phone!!

Hope every one is well,
Love Ocean Lady

Darwin here we come!!!

Dear all,

We are still making our way towards Darwin, last night we passed Cape Wessel
and at noon today we were in position 10 53S, 135 19E. It has been pretty
hot on board and the wind has reduced so we are having to motor sail.

We have tried a bit of fishing but lost another lure!!

Lots of love,
Ocean Lady

Congratulations Colin and Emma

Dear all,

We are doing well across the Gulf of Carpentaria, good winds and sunny
weather. Our noon position was 10 52S, 139 50E.

Congratulations to Colin and Emma Stuckey who had a lovely baby girl a
couple of days ago, looking forward to seeing the photos once we reach
Darwin.

Lots of Love,
Ocean Lady

Torres Strait

Dear All,
Today Ocean Lady passed through the Torres Strait and is now sailing across
the Gulf of Carpentaria towards Darwin.

The sun is out and our 16:00 position was 10 49S, 142 00E

Hope everybody at home is well, Happy birthday to Sam Woodger.

Lots of Love,
Ocean Lady

Still Going North!

Dear all,
We are making good progress towards Cape York. Yesterday we experienced
lovely sunny weather, but a lot of haze over the land.
The wind has been variable between 15 - 40 knots!
Life on board is good and comfortable. Tonight we hope to anchor in Escape
River before heading around Cape York tomorrow.

Our nearly noon position (11.45am) was 11 27S, 142 56E

I hope everybody at home is well,
Love,
Ocean Lady

Going North!

Dear all,

Following our great snorkelling expedition on Sunday we left Port Douglas
for an overnight passage to Lizard Island, once again the wind was much more
than predicted and with the rain, it made for a rotten night. The channel
was narrow and there were plenty of ships to contend with. We arrived at
Lizard Island mid morning and the rain did not stop. Putting a real dampener
on everything.

After a lazy day and lovely roast beef meal we had an early night. The next
day we were all up early for a long day sail to King Island, which on the
end of it features Atkinson Reef. This was a lovely anchorage. We have now
headed off up towards Cape York (although it will be a few days and a couple
more anchorages before we get there), and have pleasant winds from behind
and sunny conditions. It is the first time we have had full main since
inside the reef in Fiji!!

Our noon position was 13 37S, 144 04E

I hope everybody at home is well,
Love,
Ocean Lady

The great barrier reef

Hello everyone from Port Douglas!

So we checked out of Cairns yesterday morning after having a fantastic couple of days. We were lucky enough to be there for the beginning of Cairns festival, so the atmosphere was buzzing!

Yesterday we made our way up the coast towards Port Douglas! Finally we had a lovely sunny day for our trip, but little wind! Thankfully it was only about 5 hours away.

Today we have been out to the great barrier reef and done some snorkelling. It was fantastic, we have seen sharks, sting rays, wrasses, jacks, barracudas, nemos, giant clams, corals and much much more!

Tomorrow we are heading up to lizard island and then over to Darwin the following day.

Lots of love,
Ocean Lady

Ocean Lady has arrived in Australia

> Dear all,
>
> The title says it all, we have safely arrived in Australia. We managed to eat all the fruit and veg onboard so very little was confiscated by customs an immigration, who have a reputation for being strict. They almost took our tuna and pasta bake that Laura had cooked for supper.
> After a couple of drinks ashore we retired for a full nights sleep.
>
> Cairns is a fantastic, lively town, set up for back packers and tourists. It is nice to get back to civilisation with reasonable phone call costs, and access to spares.
>
> Today we have taken the scenic rail up to Kuranda. Then caught the cable car down over the rain forest. A lovely relaxed town with quirky Market stores.
> Margaret and Laura had a cuddle with a koala, we fed kangaroos and kept well away from the snakes!
>
> We plan to be in Cairns until the weekend before heading north towards Cape York.
>
> Take care,
> Love Ocean Lady
>

Laura's Birthday

Dear all,

Today we have been celebrating Laura's' birthday. When the realisation that
we would be at sea and not in Australia dawned upon her, we all smiled and
said it would be lovely, wind behind us, sun shining etc. In fact we have
the sun shining but we also have 20-25 knots of wind, on a port fetch, with
the occasional wave jumping into the cockpit.
However, She has been surprised by the number of birthday cards she has
received from home (thanks mum) courtesy of "mail Alan and Margaret" and of
the videos from her
friends at home. Margaret went to the effort of baking a cake whilst heeled
over to some stupid angle and Stu let Laura have an extra couple of hours in
bed rather than having to get up at 4am!!

We have less than 24 hours to go, just about 60 miles to the reef pass
(Grafton Pass), so hopefully we will be there some time tomorrow,
afternoon/evening all depends on the wind.

We had two birds take a ride on the boat for a rest last night, they looked
exhausted. Very impressed how they could land on the spinnaker pole in low
light levels whilst Ocean Lady is jumping over waves! Even more impressive
was there mate who landed on the top of the mast the other day!

Our noon position was:
Lat -15 48S - Long - 148 21E

Hope everybody at home is well,

Lots of Love,

Ocean Lady

Variable wind strength!!

Dear all,

Early last night we were sailing with the 2nd reef, staysail and a small
yankee when the wind gradually picked up.
For a decent nights sleep we put in the third reef and let out some more
headsail. This worked well for most of the night with only a little bit of
motor sailing to aid our progress.
But then today the wind would vary between 16-30 knots, not helpful as you
go from being under powered and
lolling about to over powered and trying to reduce the headsail.
our 16.20 position is 15 30.2S, 152 52.4E
We are trying to eat up all our veggies and meat before reaching Australia
as they will confiscate it all!!

fingers crossed for some south easterly winds!!

Lots of love,
Ocean Lady

Sunshine and headwinds!

Dear all,
We are still making good progress towards Cairns, despite the wind shifting
to the south/southwest.

The sun is shining and life on board is good.

Our noon position was 15 36S, 155 23E

Hope everyone is well at home,
Love Ocean Lady

Rain, rain go away come again another day!

Dear all,

Following our last blog update the weather has been pretty windy and
overcast. Often a wave ends up in the cockpit. Stu had the pleasure of
cooking lunch then two saltwater showers whilst eating it – not a good day.
Today is the first day of champagne sailing with sunshine and clear skies.
It's been nice to stretch out in the sun rather than wearing waterproofs and
hinding from the waves.

We are making good progress our noon position was 15 47S, 157 31E with just
over 700 miles completed.

Hope everyone is well at home,
Love Ocean Lady

Day two!

Day two and all is well!
We are making good progress to Australia, our noon position was 17 43S, 163
21E
A good SE breeze pushing us along with clear skies. It gets a bit chilly at
night but we'd prefer that to rain!!!
Lots of love,
Ocean Lady

Day two!

Day two and all is well!

We are making good progress to Australia, our noon position was 17 43S, 163 21E

A good SE breeze pushing us along with clear skies. It gets a bit chilly at night but we'd prefer that to rain!!!

Lots of love,

Ocean Lady

Australia here we come!!

Dear all,

 

Ocean Lady left Vanuatu yesterday morning with a dull, drizzly and overcast sky. Shortly after leaving the drizzle stopped and we were experiencing good sailing with the yankee and two reefs in the mainsail. Beam reaching with a rolly sea. We had the odd bit of green water over the deck and Stu had an impromptu shower whilst cooking supper from the hatch above the galley!!

As the night drew in the seas got smaller and we had a great night making good speed and almost on course.

Our noon position was: 17 48S, 165 43E

 

Lots of love,

Ocean Lady

 

More Rain!

Dear all,

 

Just like the UK has been suffering with lots of rain so have we! We have left the main port Port Vila after clearing customs and having a nice outing to the Cascades waterfalls. We are now tucked up in Port Havannah. We had a good snorkel and dive on the boat yesterday making sure the bottom is as clean as possible before entering Australian waters. Today we woke to overcast weather and frequent rain showers. We were meant to be heading back to Port Vila but behind the protection of the headland we still had 30 knots of breeze on the nose and were soaked to the skin!

 

We are hoping to check out tomorrow or Saturday and head for Cairns. It is quite a weird feeling thinking that our next country will be Australia and we have all sailed here!! The journey should take 12 days and once the current conditions have moved on we should have fine weather and good breezes – if you can trust a GRIB weather file. We have worked out that since Niue, every leg has had in excess of 35 knots of wind. So much for trade wind sailing conditions.

 

We hope the Olympics are going well and everybody is well at home,

 

Love, Ocean Lady

 

 

 

We've arrived!!!

Dear all,

 

After my rant about arriving on a bank holiday in Fiji, you’d never guess what we’d done again in Vanuatu!! Yip, Monday 30th July is Independence day, and a public holiday in Vanuatu!!!

We are all very glad to get here and relax. The island looks and feels very Caribbean, the anchorage is good and we all slept very well last night is despite the late night / early morning partying from the adjacent shore!!

 

Hope everybody is well at home and enjoying the Olympics,

 

Lots of love,

 

Ocean Lady

Bye bye Fiji, Vanuatu here we come!!

Hello Everyone

 

After leaving Musket Cove we went to a little village that we had previously

visited, Margaret had bought a few gifts for them, some old school books,

and had printed off some photos of them that we had taken on our last visit

which they were delighted to receive, and was really lovely to see. They saw

our boat moor up alongside their beach and actually remembered us from over

a month ago. The ladies made us some bracelets out of pandana leaves as a

souvenir.

 

Tuesday we set off for our first offshore passage to Vanuatu.  It took us

around 6 hours to get to the reef pass and this was a delightful sail, wind

at 18 knots force 4 on the beam, we could all handle this we thought!! We

had a tricky exit through the reef pass with another yacht entering on the

transit line, showing wrong running lights and then shinning a bright torch

in our eyes!! Great!On exiting the pass night descended upon us and bought

with it hurricane force winds (note it wasn't a hurricane, just winds

reached up to force 11) lightening and torrential rain!!! Day 2 continued

much them same, slightly lighter winds the storm sail remained up, and still

torrential rain, weather that wasn't at all predicted. We were delighted to

wake this morning to the sun shining, and finally we were all able to have a

shower! the good news is Ocean Lady keeps us nice and safe in such strong

weather! well done her!!!

 

Tonight Stu is cooking lamb chops and roast potatoes, moral is all good on

board!

 

Hope all is well at home

 

Ocean Lady

 

Bye bye Fiji, Vanuatu here we come!!

Hello Everyone

After leaving Musket Cove we went to a little village that we had previously
visited, Margaret had bought a few gifts for them, some old school books,
and had printed off some photos of them that we had taken on our last visit
which they were delighted to receive, and was really lovely to see. They saw
our boat moor up alongside their beach and actually remembered us from over
a month ago. The ladies made us some bracelets out of pandana leaves as a
souvenir.

Tuesday we set off for our first offshore passage to Vanuatu. It took us
around 6 hours to get to the reef pass and this was a delightful sail, wind
at 18 knots force 4 on the beam, we could all handle this we thought!! We
had a tricky exit through the reef pass with another yacht entering on the
transit line, showing wrong running lights and then shinning a bright torch
in our eyes!! Great!On exiting the pass night descended upon us and bought
with it hurricane force winds (note it wasn't a hurricane, just winds
reached up to force 11) lightening and torrential rain!!! Day 2 continued
much them same, slightly lighter winds the storm sail remained up, and still
torrential rain, weather that wasn't at all predicted. We were delighted to
wake this morning to the sun shining, and finally we were all able to have a
shower! the good news is Ocean Lady keeps us nice and safe in such strong
weather! well done her!!!

Tonight Stu is cooking lamb chops and roast potatoes, moral is all good on
board!

Hope all is well at home

Ocean Lady

Back in Fiji

Dear all,

 

Just to let you know We are all back safely in Fiji enjoying the delights of Musket Cove, an exclusive resort. Stu and Laura went off and hired some stand up paddle boards this afternoon, which was a giggle.

 

We are planning on heading to Vanuatu early this week once we have cleared out of customs.

 

Hope everybody at home is well,

 

Love Ocean Lady

 

New Zealand - Part Two

Dear all,

 

Hope you are all well. New Zealand has been treating us well. Once we left Queenstown we headed over to the east coast, where the temperature was much more comfortable (being above zero!!) We headed over to Oamaru to see the boulders that have been created into near perfect spheres.

 

Oamaru Boulders

 

From here we headed up the east coast back to Picton and back over to the north island. On reaching the north island we headed up towards Lake Taupo where we enjoyed some naturally heated hot spring pools. Before heading up to the Coramandel coast.

 

Cathedral Cove, Coramandel Coast

 

The view from the top of Mt Maunganui, Coramandel Coast

 

Again another stunning part of the country and so stunning that Stu decided to propose to Laura! Fortunately she said yes. We then headed back to Auckland where Claire had a surprise for us, a meal in the revolving restaurant in the sky tower. Sky tower is the tallest building in the southern hemisphere overlooking Auckland. The food was magnificent and a great surprise. Thank you Claire and Paul for making an already special day just awesome!!!

The view from the sky tower

 

We have now had a great weekend chilling in Auckland and sorting bits and bobs out ready to return to Ocean Lady this week.

Messing around in Devonport

 

Auckland as viewed from Devonport

 

Hope everyone at home is well,

Love Stu and Laura xxx

 

 

Photos from last week:

 

Every corner has a wow factor, just one of the many lakes we have seen.

 

State Highway 6, a great road trip

 

Fox Glacier

 

More Wow factors

 

Lake Wanaka

 

On the coach tour to Milford sound, cold and snowy – perfect

 

Milford Sound

 

Milford Sound – absolutely stunning

 

 

 

 

New Zealand - part one

>> Dear all,
>> Sorry for the delay in telling you about New Zealand but once again we have been very busy.
>> After an early flight to Auckland which took just over three hours we were met by Laura's friends Claire and Paul. They have been so welcoming and have lots of knowledge of NZ. Claire and Paul have lent us their campervan and after a few days in Auckland to enjoy a proper bed ( the first time since October) and home comforts we headed up to the Northlands and Cape Reinga. The way to describe New Zealand is 'exciting' and 'wow' every turn has a new view that is as good as as the last, if not better. The number of times our breath has been taken away is countless. There are hundreds of photos to plough through and pick our favourites so photos will have to wait for another day.
>> After a few days doing the northlands - anywhere north of Auckland we headed back to pick up Paul and Claire. After a heavy night in Auckland city enjoying the bars around the viaduct the four of us headed down south to Ohakune for an overnight stop before heading down to Wellington for Sunday evening, Paul and Claire flew home for another week at work while Stu and Laura waited for the Monday morning ferry across the Cook Strait. Apparently captain cook didn't even sail across the cook strait so we don't feel like cheats!!
>> On arriving in Picton we took a nice drive along Kenepuru sound before meeting up with stu's friend from uni, Ian. A great evening was had chatting and catching up before retiring to the campervan in Ians driveway.
>> The following day we headed down state highway six towards the Fox Glacier. This has to be one of our favourite roads of all time, the views were amazing!!
>> After a long day driving we dropped into a local pub to check that there ale was ok:-)
>> The following day we did a glacier walk up the fox glacier which was fantastic - again photos to follow.
>> Since the glacier walk we have continued to head south, there is snow on the roadside, frost every morning and beautiful snow covered mountains on the horizon. Today we have been on a coach tour to Milford Sound and a boat ride out to the mouth of the sound. Once again extremely beautiful and photos to follow.
>>
>> Hope everyone at home is well,
>>
>> Lots of love,
>> Stu and Laura
>> Xxx

Back from the Yasawa Group

Dear all,

 

We are back from the Yasawa Group of Islands. Another amazing group. We managed to visit a few little villages and present some Sevusevu to either the Chief to be or the mayor. The villagers are so happy and content with their lifestyle it was lovely to see.

The highlight has to of been swimming with Manta rays off the Manta Ray resort. It was so good we went back the following day for another go.

Swimming with Manta rays needs to be put on everyone’s bucket list!

 

The alarming thing about these islands is the inaccuracy of the charts and the chart plotter quite often we were shown to be high and dry on the chart plotter so a good look out was required!

 

We are now back in the marina to pack up Ocean Lady. She’s going to have a rest whilst Alan and Margaret fly home to visit family and Stu and Laura fly to New Zealand to visit friends. We’ll keep the blogs coming but they are likely to be about New Zealand and not our sailing voyage around the world (and not the UK) so apologies as this probably wasn’t what you signed up for!! Normal blogs will be resumed at the end of July.

 

Below are some photos from last week.

 

Hope everyone at home is well,

Lots of Love

Ocean Lady

 

Scotland line up against Fiji

 

Fire dancers at the First Landing Resort

 

And a photo with the performers afterwards.

 

The Yasawa Group

Dear all,

 

Happy fathers day to everyone!

 

We have now left Vuda Point Marina in Fiji and gone to the outer islands of the Yasawa group. Vuda point is a great marina complex with the first landing resort next door.

Laukota is a 30 mins taxi ride away where almost anything can be purchased. Welcome back to civilisation!!! Unfortunately the weather has has more resemblance of a monsoon season! But hopefully the low pressure system has moved away now and we will have settled weather for a bit.

The highlight of our stay in Vuda point has to of been going to the Scotland vs. Fiji international. A fantastic atmosphere and a great Scottish win. We did struggle with who to support, Scotland want independence but would have fewer fans, whereas Fiji love the UK and are very patriotic even having a public holiday for the Queens birthday.

Then in the evening after a lovely meal in a local resort we went to the bar and Wales were playing Australia. The bar was a mix of Aussie, Kiwis and one wee Welsh girl with plenty of fight (Laura) - Fantastic atmosphere!!!

 

After anchoring up off the picturesque island of Weyasewa this afternoon we went ashore, expecting to offer the chief of the island some sevusevu (Kava roots – used to make grog) – In return the Chief will welcome the visitors to his village offering his protection and all reasonable assistance . We met a young lady (Andi) and lots of village children (Jimmy, Norman and Lou-Lou) who welcomed us and showed us around the school and village. The schooling was really good for such a basic island. They were so welcoming it was great to see and witness.

 

We hope to visit a few more of the Islands before returning to the marina.

 

Hope everybody at home is well,

 

Lots of Love,

Ocean Lady

 

 

Arrival in Fiji

Dear all,

 

At last we have reached Fiji after a wet & windy sail. We arrived in the dark and the navigation lights on the shore were either not working or different to the chart. Given that the chart plotter has been out by over 0.2 of a mile in places it wasn't worth the chance so we had to hove too and we waited until sunrise this morning to enter through the reef pass. It was actually quite comfortable especially as the watch was accompanied with a chocolate cake Laura had made during the day.

On entering the reef pass it seems as though the Fijians have been upgrading there navigation lights and towers, but the charts have not followed suit – yet!!

 

As we motor up to the town of Lautoka checking in with port control and customs we establish that today is a public holiday. We seem to be pretty unlucky with an on going trend of arriving on public holidays.

1, Galapagos Islands, arrived during part of a 4 day public holiday,

2, Marquises' arrived in Nuku Hiva jut before Easter public holidays,

3, Aitutaki arrived for the Vaka voyaging society arriving and enjoying a public holiday

4, Tonga arrived in time for Emancipation day

5, Fiji Cannot clear customs because of a public holiday!

 

Oh well, I guess we could do with a rest! We will have to anchor and stay on the boat till tomorrow when we can clear customs, it will give us time to eat some more food before we get it confiscated.

Our midday position was 17 39.4S, 177 21.8E

 

We hope everyone at home is well,

Lots of love,

 

Ocean Lady

 

 

Nearly in Fiji

Dear all,

 

Ocean Lady is sailing nicely towards the Navula passage on the south west side of the Fijian Islands. The journey has been plagued with rain! We dry our waterproofs out just to get them wet again on the next watch!

Our midday position was 18 47S, 177 27E Notice that we have now crossed the 180th parallel

 

Hope everybody is well,

Love Ocean Lady

Lots of rain....

 

Dear all,

 

Last night we were greeted with yet more rain, it started around midnight and stopped this morning around 10 o'clock. Other than that the wind is pleasant and progress is good.

Our midday position was 19 37S, 178 56W – Almost half way around the world!

 

Love,

Ocean Lady

 

At sea again!

Dear all,

 

We are well on our way to Fiji now in position 19 03S, 176 50W, 150 miles into the journey. We are experiencing good weather so are sailing with twin headsails and using the engine to assist when the batteries need charging. Before leaving we plotted no less than 60 uncharted reefs to avoid for this leg of the journey!

 

Hope everybody is well,

Love Ocean Lady

 

Hello from the Kingdom of Tonga

Dear all,

We have had a great week in Tonga, the people are very friendly and welcoming. We have caught up with friends doing the World ARC and had a nice week relaxing after a rough crossing from Niue. We have managed to catch up on a load of maintenance and get out and about.  A highlight has to of been the BBQ and cave swim on the Catamaran Seazen. Swallows cave was amazing, stalactites, bats, clouds of fish beneath in crystal clear water. There is another cave (marinas cave that we couldn’t find) probably a good job given the swell on the day.

Swallows cave from the inside

Stu and Laura took part in a Clear up Vava’u litter pick with the local Vava’u environmental protection agency along with Jeff from Sea Falke and Jamie and Lucy from Bamboozle. We also experienced another Sunday church service with the Tongans all dressed up in their traditional attire.

 

Today we have been to a botanical garden owned by lucy and Haniteli, a great day out. Haniteli started growing the botanical garden back in 1954 when he was given the land by the government. With his passion for agriculture and plants he opened the gardens when he retired in 2002.

We are hoping to get fuel and vegetables tomorrow and clear customs for Fiji, a five day crossing.

 

We hope everybody at home is well and have all enjoyed the Jubilee celebrations.

 

Lots of Love,

Ocean Lady

 

Safely arrived in Tonga! - but where did Sunday go???

Hello everyone

 

This is just to correct our mistake yesterday we have actually safely arrived in Tonga...who picked up on it???.  Our friends on the boat Seazen arrived this morning, so all three boats cruising in convoy have all survived the passage from Niue. 

 

We've been pretty clumsy and seemed to have lost a day, Sunday 27th May 2012 will never happen for us!  we jumped to Monday 28th May and are now 12 hours in front of the UK, after passing the international date line just before reaching Tonga.  As we have always been chasing UK time, it will take a while before we get used to being ahead.

 

Love to all at home!  we are about to go explore the Kingdom of Tonga!

 

Ocean Lady!

 

 

 

 

Safe arrival in Niue

Dear all,

 

We had a great time in Niue but had to leave due to adverse weather. The anchorage is open to the west and we had the choice of staying and hoping that the weather would not have a westerly component in it or run. We opted to run. If we had stayed and were then forced to leave the wind direction was likely to be unfavourable for the voyage to Tonga.

 

We are now in Neiafu the main port of the Vava'u group in the Kingdom of Tonga. The weather was "fruity" to say the least! Some of the worst seas we have ever experienced. 59 knots of breeze apparent on the wind instrument! Large 7-8m breaking waves. The cockpit was filled regularly by big greenies and the storm staysail was used in anger for the first time ever!

 

Jeff on Sea Falke was in transit with us but Seazen opted to stay, probably the best option for a 43ft Catamaran. They are on there way now so hoping to meet them in a day or so.

Niue was amazingly friendly, the "yacht club" make a very special effort for visiting yachtsmen. We were met on the wharf by the Commodore of the yacht club Keith who showed us how to use the crane to remove the dinghy from the water. The swell is such that you cannot just tie the dinghy alongside.

 

Our stay included a tour around the island visiting the chasms and arches, sea snakes - four times more poisonous than a cobra but they are not able to open their mouths wide enough to bite a human – We didn't take any chances!! Meeting up with some of the World ARC boats and enjoying a great BBQ put on by the yacht club.

 

It was a shame to leave because of the weather, but grateful that the weather remained stable enough to stay for a few days.

 

Love to all,

Ocean Lady

 

Leaving for Tonga in the morning

Hello Everyone
 
After a fantatsic stay in Niue we leave for Tonga in the morning. 
 
We will update on our stay in Niue when we have more time (we need to sleep as we leave early in the morning) but here are some photos from our previous stops that are long overdue!
 
Mostly from our stay in Aitutaki.
 
Love to all at home
 
xx
 
 

Rain !!

Hi everyone,

We're having a choppy, rainy crossing similar to the English Channel. We all dressed for dinner ( in waterproofs!)

Our position is 19 00S, 168 45W having done 507 miles and hope to arrive in Niue tomorrow morning.

Hope all is well,

 

Ocean Lady

Overcast but making progress in the right direction

Dear all,

 

We are making good progress towards Niue the weather has been mixed, overcast and rain, squalls, headwinds, no wind etc!! You name it we've had it!! We currently have 20 knots from the East and after sending this email we are going to set up the twin headsails.

The seas have been very confused making life a little more uncomfortable on board.

Yesterdays noon position was 19 20S, 161 45W

Our current position at 0930 18/5/2012 is 19 25S, 163 31W

 

Approximately 360 miles to go!

 

Hope everybody at home is well,

Lots of love,

Ocean Lady

Fair well Aitutaki its been fantastic

Dear all,
This is how the guide book describes Aitutaki,
"Aitutaki has a special sense of magic and tranquillity. The island's vast
lagoon is reknowned as one of the world's most beautiful, with crystal clear
turquoise waters and dazzling white sandy beaches. Aitutaki's scenic
splendour arises from its unique formation, which is part volcanic and part
coral atoll. " – every part true.

We all went to the Sunday church service, which happened to be Mothering
Sunday, the singing from the men and women truly came from their hearts,
emotional to see, and fantastic to be a part of it. – even if the service
was half in Cook Island Maori!!!
The cultural dancing and shows put on by the Cook Island voyaging society
were amazing. Seven 75 foot catamarans sailed into the tiny harbour, crewed
by 16 people from places such as Polynesia, Melanesia and Micronesia, each
with their own message about looking after the world and haka dance. An
event that happens every 20 years, so perfect timing and a privileged to
witness. The prime minster of the cook islands was here speaking to his
people the Aitutaki people put on a feast for everyone which we jumped right
in on!!!

We are setting sail tomorrow on the morning high water for the small country
of Nuie which should take around 7 days.

Our current position is

18 degrees 54 South
160 degrees 24 West

Lots of love,

Ocean Lady

Welcome to Aitutaki

Dear all,

 

Sorry for the lack of contact not only have we been having fun but also struggling with computers, internet access and phones!!!

Bora bora was amazing, relaxing, a sexy honeymooners paradise.

We experienced fantastic snorkling, a great BBQ on Seazen to see Tony’s last night, the welcoming Bora Bora yacht club which served the biggest steaks Stu had come across.

 

The trip from Bora Bora to Aitutaki was varied. The weather information we have been getting has been varied in quality. We had 2 days of good and strong winds then plenty of motoring.

 

The entrance to Aitutaki is tiny, a man made cut out created by the Americans during the second world war. After anchoring outside waiting for the tide we are now tied up stern to in a small harbour. Last night we met up with Seazen and Sea Falke in a local bar and had a crazy night out with the locals. Today we have explored the island which is beautiful.

 

Tomorrow the locals have a big celebration to welcome the Cook Island Voyaging Boats which have sailed across from Bora Bora, everybody has been talking about the celebrations so we are hoping for a good one!!

 

We will let you know how it goes before we push off to Nuie in a few days time.

 

Lots of Love,

Ocean Lady

Leaving Bora Bora

Dear all,

 

We’ve had an amazing time here in Bora Bora, photos to follow. We are leaving now for the Island of Atutaki in the Cook Islands sailing in company with Sea Falke and Seazen. Hope everybody at home is well.

 

Love Ocean Lady

We have arrived in Bora Bora!

Hello Everyone

 

Since our last post we have continued our tour of the Society Islands.  Our stay in Moorea was short as the weather was not great and we wanted to head towards where we thought the weather would improve.  Laura and Stu took a walk through from Cooks bay to Opunohu Bay (although we didn’t quite reach the next bay) and the Islands reminded us a lot of the Marquesas with tall dramatic volcanic mountains covered in flourishing green fauna.

 

We then took an overnight passage (roughly 100 miles) to Raiatea and Tahaa.  We were pretty unlucky with the weather over night, we were expecting to have to motor with no wind, but we were greeted with strong tail winds reaching gale force and torrential rain all night long! Thankfully the weather picked up and we picked up a mooring buoy outside the Hibiscus Hotel (which was free for the night!) after a quick swim and snorkel we had a nice evening at the bar with Jeff and Tony (Sea Falke) and Andrea and Glen (Seazen) alongside a turtle farm.   The following day we had great fun snorkelling, dodging the coral with the dingy and admiring the beautiful fish, we then hosted happy hour onboard Ocean Lady. 

Happy hour on Ocean Lady

Leaving Tahaa for Bora Bora, here you can see Bora Bora in the background

 

We have now arrived after a lovely 30 mile sail in the beautiful sun in Bora Bora, one of the most beautiful Islands in the world!  The views are breathtaking, the water clear blue and very inviting.  There are plenty of honeymoon huts perched along the side of the beaches, one night would surely burn a whole in your wallet!  We have just returned from a delicious meal at Bora Bora yacht club with the folks of Seazen and Sea Falke, and have planned to go exploring the beautiful island tomorrow.

 

 

Bora Bora from the sea, you can just about make out the reef surrounding the island

 

Meal out tonight at Bora Bora Yacht club, worth every penny

 

Hope everyone at home is well!

 

Ocean Lady

Ocean Lady in Tahiti

Hello Everyone

 

Sorry for the delay in blogging, we have been busy exploring Tahiti.  Ocean Lady arrived in Tahiti last Saturday and we have all been enjoying the luxuries Marina Taina has to offer, unlimited electricity (well most of the time) unlimited water and a launderette.   The story of fixing and cleaning boats in paradise continues, and Ocean Lady is now sparkling clean with a mended generator!  Unlike the remote paradise atolls that we have become accustomed too in the Tuamotus, Tahiti is bustling and it’s nice to step back into civilisation (for a short while anyway!)

 

Stu and Laura took a bus ride to the main city Papeete, which is a fascinating city, bustling, vibrant, noisy and the administrative capital of the French Polynesia.  You can pretty much get whatever you need in Papeete, the city has a nice cathedral at the centre, and you can walk along the waterfront, see the cruiseliner port and all the shops it has to offer.  We went to the Pearl market which looked incredibly expensive so we stayed for about five minutes before one of the salesmen had a chance to corner us. 

Laura in front of the cathedral

 

We hired a car to do a tour of the Island, which saw Stu rise to the challenge of driving on the right hand side of the road!  We were slightly unfortunate to have almost torrential rain all day (a pattern that seems to be forming every time we do an island tour).  Basically Tahiti has one single road of 114km that surrounds the island, so finding the sights was fairly straight forward.  With the skies so grey and rain hammering down pretty hard, the views from all the famous viewpoints were naturally disappointing, however, these were made up for when we walked up to some incredible waterfalls.  Due to the amount of water that had fallen, the power of the waterfalls were immense.  It was really breathtaking, especially when viewing from a distance you could see the three big waterfalls in a row! Great for picture taking.

 

 

In 1768 James Cook set sail to explore the Pacific Islands to observe the transit of Venus across the solar disk and measure the distance between the sun and the earth, he named a point at the very north of the island Venus Point.  It was here he met the Tahitians for the first time.  It is marked with an old Lighthouse built in 1868 and is now a well-known paradise for surfers!  Even today with all the rain there were plenty of surfers riding the waves, and it was a fascinating little spot. 

 

We have enjoyed plenty of sociable evenings at the marina, and were treated to a fantastic meal aboard Sea Falke, and a great BBQ aboard Seazen (despite the rain).  For our last evening we treated ourself to a meal at the restaurant and were treated to some live Tahitian drumming and traditional Tahitian dancing.  Stu was a good sport and after a bit of Laura encouragement agreed to dance with 2 of the dancers, so he was wiggling his hips on stage under the command of two very attractive ladies.  We know he enjoyed it really!

 

It’s been great catching up with all the Arc boats, Sea Falke and Seazen!  We have taken advantage of the big shopping centre and despite the enormous costs of meat we have now provisioned the boat up with food!

 

Now we have arrived on the small island of Moorea just 12 miles from Tahiti anchored in Cooks bay and Stuart is cooking dinner!

 

Love to all at home,

 

Ocean Lady

xx