Seasons greetings to you.

We seem to have taken all of 2009 in crossing the Pacific. Mind you it is about 7000 miles from Colon in Panama to Opua in New Zealand, or at least it is the way we sailed! We traversed the Panama canal in February and arrived in new Zealand in mid October. Most of the time the crew was just Will and Margaret although Stephen and Susan helped us through the Canal and came for a holiday in Tahiti, and Kevin Ballantyne (our Atlantic crew) came with us for the difficult passage between Tonga and New Zealand.

Atlantia performed well during the year although the genoa/forestay fitting parted in the middle of the night in the middle of the Pacific, the propeller nearly fell off, and some of the rigging, including three spreaders, has been required to be replaced in Opua. The wiring was also upgraded in Opua and we are pleased to say that we now have an AIS on board which shows all the commercial vessels where we are and visa versa. It is a great innovation in deepwater cruising which will certainly improve our safety. Many thanks to Kevin who donated most of the system and to Ian of Ishka who did a sterling job running up the masts to install the system for us. We found New Zealand remarkably cold when we arrived there in October since it was only just coming into spring time there. Snow reports told us of snow at 400 metres in the South Island, although Opua which is in the north island has never seen snow. After five years of non use, and with the help of the local Seapower technician we managed to re-engage the glowplug Webasto heater which took the chill off the boat before we retired at night.

Before Kevin left us we had a great cruise around the Bay of Islands in Atlantia. We took Kerry with us as well. A talented man who speaks mandarin, cooks, climbs masts, fixes lights and rigging (on Atlantia) and crews with Frans on 'Son of the Sun' on his way around the world. He also walks and climbs a bit faster than us, but then he is quite a lot younger!

We had a great deal of fun and nearly ended up towing a seaplane to safety off Paradise beach. As it was, we lent our jump-leads to them, but they still couldn't manage to start the engine. They were towed by another boat to safety and repair.

We hired a car for three days and drove on the correct side ( the left hand side) of the road up to the very north of New Zealand, to Rainga Point. This is the area that the Maoris believe their dead souls depart from to travel back to their Valhalla on the island of Raiatia where their ancestors came from, and where we visited the sacred Marae with alters to the ancestors. The area is much respected.

We passed through the most beautiful scenery, very reminiscent of that of the border country between England and Scotland. Rolling, grassy hills, dotted with sheep and dairy farms and some very interesting trees native to New Zealand.

Ghost trees, which live up to their ethereal name in the spring, reaching their bare white limbs hauntingly to the sky; and New Zealand pines which could have been pine trees as drawn by a child, with easily identifiable individual branches reducing in size as the trunk climbs gracefully to the sky, like one tutu wearing ballerina standing on top of a slightly larger one, and so on down to the earth. We saw one of these trees all on its own, perched at the very top of an almost perfectly conical hill. It was quite an alarming sight to see a child's colouring book spring to life. Not that New Zealand is childish in any sense. It is a country where men are men, and sheep are afraid. Or so they said on New Zealand radio. They also have an excellent classical music station there. It plays some very unusual classics that don't appear on radio 3 or classic f m. It is nice to listen to some alternative pieces from ones favourite composers for a change.

We passed by 90 mile beach, a very long hard stretch of sand which substituted for a road north until recently, and is still used by uninsured vehicles that don't mind being bogged down and covered by the rising tide. We met some exuberant Maoris jumping in the air for joy of life. They asked us to take a photograph of them in the air which wasn't too hard since they jumped quite high. The problem came when they asked us to jump in the air whilst they took a photo of us. We may have managed two inches, but it probably doesn't show in the pictures.

We visited a forest which was the preserve for Kauri trees. Kauris have a very smooth bark and a very thick trunk and they terminate a long way from the ground much the same as a telegraph pole. Thereafter some wispy branches straggle from the top upwards and outwards. Your son or daughter may have drawn such a tree in their colouring book. You might have laughed then but such trees actually exist.

There was a Maori wedding being performed under the biggest Kauri tree in the world whilst we were there, complete with priest and music from the boom box. Two vintage ford cars took the bride and groom away and Margaret practised her Maori language on the bride's grandfather . Kiaora, means hello or greetings in Maori. He looked quite fierce with his long white beard and his tinnie in hand, before Margaret said hello.

Kiaora kiaora means thank you when the same two words are strung together. A number of Maori words are doubled up, such as Keri Keri, the local market town, and Wiki Wiki head, which you pass on your starboard hand as you pass into the Bay of Islands from Tonga. We learned that the population of New Zealand is about 4 million people. Perhaps ten percent of these are Maoris who originally came from the Society Islands about 2000 years ago. We tried to find out how many Maoris lived in New Zealand before the British arrived in the mid nineteenth century, but have yet to find out. It was probably many more than the present 400,000 since it is well known that their population was ravaged by the European diseases of measles and flu. Most places in the world that we have been to so far have been ravaged by these or similar diseases. Russel in the Bay of Islands used to be the European capital of New Zealand in the mid eighteen hundreds. In the early 1830s Darwin, during his voyage round the world on the Beagle, visited Russel. He was appalled that the British and American whalers and sealers appeared just to be a drunken rabble. He gave money to the local parson to help form a temperance society. There is no doubt that the recruiting drive was successful, since Russel is now one of the calmest and sleepiest towns we have ever seen with the oldest purpose built church in New Zealand.

Regrettably over half of the houses are for sale, summer home victims of the recession, but the museum is most interesting with a substantially sized model of the Endeavour, Captain Cook's ship. Over the bay and about a mile away lies the home of the first representatives of the Kings and Queens of Britain. It is next to the House of the Ancestors, which is the Maoris sacred meeting place. A bit like church and church hall rolled into one. The houses are on the grounds of the area where the signing of the treaty of Waitanga took place in 1836. this was a treaty between the British and the Maori chiefs where it was agreed that the Europeans would not disrupt the Maori way of life and that the British could settle amongst the Maoris and help repel any boarders. This was ostensibly to keep out the French who had designs to annex New Zealand to France, much as she succeeded later in doing to the rest of South Seas Polynesia. The Maoris did not trust the French. The Maoris welcomed British technology, organisation religion and guns. Some Maoris found out that although the foreign religion helped pacify the warring clans and prevented slavery, nevertheless the British philosophy of land ownership was very different to their own. The British delineated land ownership for individuals, whereas, in Maori custom land was common, to be looked after by everyone. This basic difference in philosophy led to the Maori Wars, which only finished in 1876. New Zealand became a protectorate of Great Britain rather than a colony, although it was initially ruled by the Governor of Australia. Perhaps needless to say the Maoris have had to acquiesce to the British notion of land ownership although there is no doubt that the two nations try hard to live in some harmony, especially at the grass routes level; although there is also evidence of racialism at political level.

We were given an exhibition of the Maori Hakka by the junior school boys and girls at the yacht club in Opua in honour of all the boats reaching there from abroad. They appeared to be well integrated and performed the songs of welcome admirably. We were also entertained at the 'House of the Ancestors' at the Waitanga treaty grounds on flagstaff hill, this time by Maoris who were all descended from the local tribes and chiefs. They gave a very good performance of the Maori dances and story of the local tribes both before the British Missionaries arrival and afterwards. The major difference we noted between the New Zealand Polynesian, or Maori dances, and those of French Polynesia, further north and east was the airing of the tongue by the southern men and the shaking of the hands and rolling of the eyes by the southern women. Otherwise the dances are similar and equally graceful.

We tried to ask why the difference occurred but did not receive an appropriate or sensible answer. The only reason we can think of is that they emulate some royal family of the past who perhaps did not have all their reason. Perhaps they think it is dignified, such as the Spaniards do, who now pronounce their c with a lisp simply because their king in the nineteenth century was unable to pronounce his cs properly. We will keep asking and will let you know if we find a credible answer.

After losing all the crew in the direction of the 'States and Australia, Will and Margaret cruised north for a day to Whangeroa Harbour, past little blue penguins, wild islands and rocks.

The Harbour is a marvellous natural stretch of water accessed between two high and rugged headlands and comprising three very different types of landscape. The first to the north, resembles a Norwegian fjord towards its head. There are steep rocks at the edges. We anchored close to the Dukes Nose which was supposed to be reminiscent of the facial silhouette of the Duke of Edinburgh, it is! The area was beautiful and very quiet.

We rowed around the head of the loch and saw a number of summer shacks nestling at the foot of the cliffs. We left Atlantia at the anchorage and sailed Dipper up to Whangeroa. A five hour sail against the current up the harbour. We were rewarded with a very tasty fish and chip lunch at the local gamefish club, run by Sally. We had 'bluenose' as our fish in a light batter. It was similar to cod but much less dense.

The next day we motored Atlantia up to Whangeroa. This time it took half an hour rather than the five hours of the day before. Whangeroa is surrounded by flat farmland and oyster farms abound in the shallow estuaries around. We anchored in six metres of water and rowed ashore. It was surprising how much like an English country lane in spring time the road appeared to be.

We passed an old boat building yard, which had been famous in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries for its Kauri wood motor launches. One had passed us whilst we were at anchor. The ladies had all been muffled up in scarves and hats to keep out the cold. The third type of landscape to be found at the harbour is similar to that found in the estuaries of Devon and |Cornwall. Deciduous wooded slopes surround calm areas of water with the occasional field full of cows ambling down towards the water. Oyster catchers should abound, the oysters certainly do. On every rock surrounding the water, but the birds are comparatively scarce, and quite a lot smaller than the British variety. The native kingfisher has a vibrant blue back and is quite common around the harbour.

On our return to the Bay of Islands we anchored in the shallow and very sheltered estuary of Keri Keri. We explored the inlet in Dipper, this time rowing the five miles up to the town basin at the Old Stone Store, and past a splendid, if small, steamboat.

The stone store is the oldest stone building in New Zealand and dates from the 1840s. As well as being a secure store for farm implements and grain, it was also used to store the local Bishops books at one time, so could almost have been termed a library. It was a barracks at the end of the Maori wars in the 1870s but is now a shop on the lower floor and an excellent museum on the first floor. (or second floor if you use the American English version!).

It is also the base for the traditionally dressed local ladies who give an excellent history of the area and tell tales of the positive interaction between the Maoris and the British colonists, in addition to the tale of the local Maoris returning to the area from raiding the neighbouring Maori tribes for slaves and potatoes. The town of Keri Keri is about a mile from there up quite a steep hill. We just made it without collapsing and were rewarded by buying a leg of lamb from Churchill's, the first stand alone butchers shop that we had seen since Ireland! The meat was the best we had tasted since Scotland!

We sailed Dipper around the estuaries of Opua a few miles away, where we anchored Atlantia. On one occasion, in the wilds of almost nowhere, we were waved at vigorously by some people building a house high up on a bluff. We thought they were being very friendly but they may just have been warning us that the water was very shallow where we were. We didn't go aground however and were swept back to Atlantia on a two knot current.

The week prior to leaving for Scotland was spent enhancing the electronics and painting cetol on the covering boards to the main saloon deck. The cetol has lasted for a year, which is acceptable for any varnish in a tropical climate, and it managed to keep Atlantia looking smart the whole way across the Pacific.

We flew Emirate Airlines from Auckland via Melbourne , Australia, to Dubai. It was an 18 hour flight but we were looked after very well by the stewardesses and arrived very refreshed to be met by Margaret's sister Alison at 0530 in the morning. Since we tend to have a watch system for two of us of three hours on watch and three hours off, we don't seem to have much trouble with long haul flights and sleep very well. This doesn't always work afterwards however when there are so many exciting things to see, such as in Sharja. One tends to think of the desert as being flat sand, like a vast beach, but this doesn't seem to be the case around Sharja and Dubai where there are many small trees and shrubs overlying the arid ground. Arid that is except for the roundabouts, which are a luscious green, watered with fresh water produced from seawater by the reverse osmosis method. Similar to the process we use on Atlantia for our fresh water, but on a much larger scale. Whilst we were there it was the 38th year of independence from Britain, and National Day. We saw some interesting holiday pursuits such as picnicking on the roundabouts

or getting bogged down driving over the sand dunes.

They also go skiing on proper snow in Dubai, but inside, and the new outing is to travel on the driverless, ultra modern, clean, efficient, metro. Since there is no driver everybody crowds around the front window to take photographs. We were no exception.

The buildings in Dubai are spectacular and the Burg Dubai is the tallest building in the world at about 830 metres. It is truly 'awesome ' as they say in New Zealand. The other buildings are on a grand scale as well, although there has been a slow down in construction recently due to the world recession. Last year a third of the worlds tower cranes could be found in Dubai, feeding its insatiable appetite for building. This year regrettably it is noticeable how many tower cranes and jack up oil rigs are lying idle. We visited the world famous artificial islands, The Palms. Although impressed by the uniformity of buildings along the palm 'trunk' we could not quite see the necessity for the crowded building out into the sea when there is so much land available in the desert closer to the centre of Dubai and Sharja. It seemed to be an extravagance.

Alison and Andy were most hospitable, even providing the entertainment of the Dubai seven aside rugby tournament, which was very exciting. The fact that it was dominated by New Zealand and the Polynesians, who we had just met, made it doubly so. We were treated to an Arabian feast cooked by Andy and had a very tasty lunch overlooking Dubai creek

with the newly weds, cousin Jonathan and Lynsey, from Scotland, on their honeymoon.

We have spent Christmas at Margaret's mother and Father's cottage at Lochgair in Argyllshire. We think it is the thirty third Christmas we have spent here and are very pleased Stephen and Susan have joined us in this white winter wonderland. Once again the hospitality has been exemplary and we have very much enjoyed ourselves.

We were pleased to be able to visit Adrian and Lynn in Norfolk and John and Barbara in Sussex before Christmas. It was good to see everybody and we were followed around the country by the snow as we drove from place to place. Thank you to everyone who has given us such a generous welcome on our visit. We hope to be able to visit more friends soon but are very sorry not to see everybody before we leave in early January.

Hopefully our travellers tales have helped to take your mind away from the dire straits that the New Labour government seem to have plunged Britain into. Perhaps the self aggrandising, selfish, people will have been voted out of office before too long and your life may become a little better. May 2010 be good to you. For us? It will see us across to Australia and over to Indonesia and Singapore and perhaps a little further before the years end. That's the plan anyway, but a cruising sailors plans are apparently set in aspic. Mmmm hope you like the pics,

Love Atlantia

Letter From Atlantia October 2009

It was with great reluctance that we waved goodbye to our offspring and Tahiti. We had had a wonderful time on Tahiti with it's magnificent scenery and helpful people. Everyone had been very friendly although prices were very expensive, caused almost exclusively by the French administration.

We sailed overnight to the adjacent Society island group of Huahini. The scenery was again on the grand scale with soaring volcanic peaks and a surround of coral reefs, leaving a small channel between the two. We anchored in a deep bay unfrequented by other yachts because of the deep water. When we arrived a cruise liner was just raising its anchor to leave. Thus we were left in splendid isolation with only the internet for company. We received this from the only house on the shore for miles around!

We sailed Dipper around Huahini Iti (the smaller of the two islands). It took us ten hours and we eventually arrived back at Atlantia in the dark having slid above numerous coral patches and only just managing to row beneath the small bridge that joins Huahini Iti to Huahini Nui. The mast scraped under the span with a touch of heel to the dinghy.

We had been greeted on the way in to Huahini by two very large humpback whales who seemed to be enjoying playing in the pass through the coral reefs. They were only a representation of the considerable number of whales we saw in the western Pacific. It was exciting to see these huge animals at close quarters. How the Japanese and Norwegians are willing to hunt and kill them is almost beyond belief since modern synthetic materials have replaced all the useful parts whaling used to supply, such as oil, corset stays and collar stiffeners. This excludes the blubber which apparently the Japanese eat. Everyone we have spoken to who has tried this delicacy describes it as 'inedible'. Being an intelligent race perhaps the Japanese will one day see sense.

Fare, on Huahini Nui, was only a small village but had an extremely well stocked supermarket. Many of the shops in the Pacific are run by the Chinese or descendants of Polynesian Chinese mix. This shop was very well run.

Our next island was Raiatia, some ten miles away. A larger island than Huahini it is the cultural centre for this area, with an airport and the base for two charter fleets. It is also the ancient religious and cultural centre of the Polynesians. It was from here, 2000 years ago, that they were blessed and set sail in their large migration catamarans, up to 100 feet long, for Tonga and New Zealand. Some also believe they went to Easter Island and the western American coastline as well.

The Maraes, or gathering places here belong to the very high born nobles from all Polynesia, and soon after we left a new chief was crowned as King of Tahiti on the most important Marae. He is the first king of Tahiti in over a hundred years. This is just another move towards independence from France. Although the Marae are gathering places all over Polynesia and New Zealand, in Raiatia they are very formalised with cobble stones for the gathering, and upright stones for head rests. There are also stones for the ancestors spirits to look from whilst ceremonies are in progress.

Before the missionaries arrived the religion in the islands was that of Ancestor Worship. To a small degree it still, is with the graveyards being in prominent places with well decorated graves.

In Bora Bora we also saw graves with much adornment in the front gardens. The religion now is staunch Christian, and the Sunday singing in the churches, which are sometimes open to the air, is very sweet and plaintive.

Captain Cook witnessed a human sacrifice at a Marae on one of his visits in the 1770's. No doubt the Polynesian chiefs eat the poor chap afterwards as well. They did this when they respected some one! They were apparently fortified by his spirit!! Later Captains' Bligh and Vancouver were officers of Cooks ship on that voyage as well, and there are some interesting reproductions of the young Bligh's excellent paintings showing the sculls that were left out on the stones. Whether they were the skulls of ancestors or of sacrificial victims we never found out.

We sailed up one of the many inlets in Raiatia on the east side. At the head of the loch we anchored and took the dinghy up the river. We rowed as well as motored about two miles beneath beautiful and strange trees and grasses. On two occasions a local man hopped out from behind a bush to speak to us from the bank. On the first occasion he gave us a wild ginger flower and urged us to visit the Botanical Gardens half way up the river. Until then we had been ignorant that these existed. On the second occasion he again urged us to visit the gardens, which we duly did on our return from the river's source. It surprised us somewhat to find that it was the same man who was our guide around the gardens. He spoke three languages and knew all the latin names of the plants as well. James was his name and a very pleasant and intelligent person he turned out to be. He even gave us a huge bunch of bananas as we left. It is the first time we have ever been paid, even in kind, for visiting a botanic garden. There was no charge for entry and the trees fruits and flowers were many and varied.

We visited three more anchorages around Raiatia, all deserted, before sailing on to Bora Bora fifteen miles away for a party. The weather was poor in Bora Bora and the wind blew hard for a week. It also rained steadily for twelve hours on the day previous to the beach barbecue. The party was to honour a Finnish lady's fortieth birthday and Also Derek's 60th.(Derek is English). There were over ten nationalities represented, all yachtsmen on their way across the Pacific.

We met the crew of Giselle, another Scottish boat, who were particularly helpful with issuing weather patterns and forecasts during our trip to Tonga. David had worked for BP Oil designing new plant for Grangemouth oil refinery on the river Forth. His wife Mary came from Ardrishig in Argyll and their daughter Kirsty had been to University in Glasgow, so there were many connections.

We anchored off the restaurant called Bloody Mary's. It was a very traditional Polynesian building with sand on the floor and wooden furniture everywhere.

We left to sail to Suwarrow, or Sumarov, in the Cook Islands. Regrettably we had to return after only a few hours to Bora Bora since the propeller had started to knock against the rudder again. The previous repair had lasted over 1000 miles but since there was still 2000 miles to voyage to New Zealand something better than three jubilee clips was required. Derek from Kalida was very helpful once more and provided additional assistance to Will's vandalising of our redundant stainless steel cover supports to make them into new washers to be inserted between the propeller and the securing nuts. Will and Derek managed the underwater part using nearly empty dive tanks. A race against air. As we write (from New Zealand) the propeller is still firmly in place and has worked well for the last 2000 miles. We set off again for the Cook Islands but due to some particularly nasty weather that we passed through, and also the fact that the weather then became advantageous to go to Tonga, we changed our minds and pointed the bow for Vau Vau, the 2nd most northerly islands in the Tongan group 600 miles away. We changed course a day later than the yacht Mainly which had also been going to Suwarrow, but decided to go to Western Samoa instead. We heard this on Giselle's Pacific High Rise net over the SSB radio. We were very saddened to hear later that Danny from Mainly was drowned during the tsunami in Samoa. One never knows what is around the corner.

Our voyage from Bora Bora took a total of nine days and , although fairly hard with just the two of us, was successfully completed with no damage. We arrived at Vau Vau at the same time as Gannet with John and Nicole on board. They had set out from Bora Bora at the same time as we had on our first attempt.

We spent two days at anchor near the main town during which time we sailed around one of the many islands in Dipper. Not so dramatic as the last time we sailed around Huahini Iti since we arrived back in daylight, just.

We thought we had arrived in Tonga on a Thursday, but discovered that having crossed the dateline we actually arrived late on Friday afternoon. Since the customs, immigration and the man from the ministry of agriculture and fisheries do not work at weekends we had to wait until Monday morning to book in. They were all very pleasant however. One wanted $100 tonga (about £30 ) for the hospital and another wanted a free medical consultation for his son's condition. Margaret ably diagnosed migraine. We heard later that sometimes the odd bottle of rum is requested from visitors but fortunately not from ourselves. Since there was no other entry fee we thought the costs for cruising such beautiful waters were quite reasonable, although port dues are required on the way out, another $100 for when we booked out of southern Tonga.

Tonga is almost 400 miles long from the Nius islands in the north to Tongatapu in the south. There is much ocean in between the four island groups. There are 171 islands which only comprise 688 square kilometres of land, with 102,000 inhabitants. When we arrived we discovered that 74 people had been drowned three weeks earlier when a ferry from Tongatapu on its way north, had capsized. Almost all the dead were women and children who had been sent below for 'safety'. There is presently a Royal enquiry into this very tragic matter. The whole of Tonga is governed by the King who is the grandson of Queen Salote. Queen Salote, who was was 6 foot four inches tall and weighed 20 stone (2metres and 130 kg) endeared herself to the British public in London during the coronation of Queen Elizabeth 2nd. She is remembered for being shown on television being pulled by horses in an open landau during the pouring rain that marked the occasion. She commented that the British public wished to see her, and see her they would, rain or no. Will says he remembers it well.

We were greeted at Vau Vau by a breaching whale and in total saw about twenty of them during our time in Tonga. They come to Tonga to calve and mothers can be seen playing with their youngsters all round the islands. There is a well regulated tourist industry 'swimming with whales'.. 'You see a whale or you get your money back'.

The main town in Vau Vau is called Neiafu, and was the temporary home to about 30 seagoing yachts, all on moorings provided, at reasonable cost, by the local boatyards and cafés. This is a safe harbour and a meeting point for yachts coming from New Zealand and travelling to the islands and also the yachts travelling across the Pacific. The 'islands' are generally, Figi, Samoa, New Caledonia, Vanuatu, Tuvalu and the Kiribati islands. Neiafu itself is an old whaling port and has a number of restaurants. They find supplies a bit sparse from the capital in Tongatapu 160 miles south however, and this makes for considerable shortages at times. Last month it was paper, of all kinds! The tsunami, which killed 7 people in northern Tonga, and the ferry tragedy, have also had an affect on the regular supply ships and whilst we were there they ran out of white wine. Some local produce such as water melons, lettuces, tomatoes, cucumbers, zuccini, squash, tarrow and kava are available at the colourful and usually well stocked market.

Also at the market are many locally produced artifacts from whalebone carvings (illegal almost everywhere) to large wooden statues of mermaids swimming with whales.

There are also many baskets and containers of wicker and pantaneus. Margaret went to basket weaving classes and now has two Tongan type baskets to her name. She was taught by Primrose, a gentle giant. In Polynesian society the first born is supposed to take on the role of guardian for the rest of his or her siblings. Consequently, whether male or female, they tend to look and act like mother hens. To meet a chap called Primrose, or similar, is not unusual in Polynesia. They almost always have outgoing personalities and Primrose was no exception, being good at basket weaving as well as teaching and selling. The Tongans have a name for men who act as women, they are called Fakaleiti.

We would like to have spent more time in Vau Vau, with its beautiful islands and happy inhabitants, and its pigs roaming around the beaches,

but the insurance company said we had to be away from the cyclone area, which includes Tonga, by the end of October, and Kevin, who had sailed with us across the Atlantic, was flying in from the USA to Tongatapu to help us take Atlantia down to New Zealand. Thus at the end of September we set sail again to pass through the Ha'apai islands to Nukualofa in Tongatapu.

It took three day sails through some of the most delightful atolls and volcanic islands (one still active and blowing smoke) to reach our destination.

In the 1770's Captain Cook christened the islands 'The Friendly Islands ' and the name has survived. The Kingdom of Tonga is indeed friendly nowadays. The name was given after a considerable exchange of hospitality and gifts to the Captain from the local chiefs. The true story emerged some time later when it became understood that the local chiefs had actually planned to kill and eat all of Captain Cooks crew including himself, but the chiefs couldn't agree whether to attack the ship by day or by night, so they let the matter drop! The name stays however

The coral islands of the Ha'apai group are mostly uninhabited and some villages still have no electricity, although they sometimes have solar power for the sparse number of street lamps. The passages through the reefs are quite difficult as well, especially when the electronic plotter shows a chart deviation of over 50 metres from the actual position. On one occasion Margaret noticed breaking water ahead of us on a reef. The reef swam off, it had been a basking whale. The chart was correct that time with 150 metres of water beneath the keel.

The Kingdom of Tonga was pronounced a British Protectorate in 1900, the same as New Zealand, but in Tonga the only notice of British presence is a broken fountain, and the relief that most people speak reasonable English. The government of Tonga is appointed by the King, and at present there is considerable discontent with the prime minister and various petitions to the King ask to have him removed. Some Tongan ladies are even on hunger strike about it. There are occasional flare-ups between the police and the populace, but during our time there everything was calm and docile and the people very friendly. Regrettably the Tonga yacht club has been a victim of the recession, and their building is up for sale. We hope that the yacht clubs we belong to in Scotland are not so mismanaged.

We took an expensive taxi ride around Tongatapu as tourists. We saw Captain Cooks landing place, the previous Kings tomb and the present ones palace. This was imported from New Zealand in the nineteenth century and had been prefabricated. It is an elegant building. We toured the water spouts and saw the fruit bats hanging upside down in the trees. Although they are nocturnal we saw one or two flying. They appear like large crows with leathery wings and bat like faces. They call them flying foxes in Tonga but they are just very large and interesting bats that are sacred.

We took Atlantia to Big Mamas yacht club about a mile from Nukualofa on the Royal Island of Pangaimotu. There to prepare the boat for our trip to New Zealand. Big Mama was very chatty and she was also collecting for the victims of the Tsunami in the Tongan Nuis islands. We were glad to donate a considerable amount of food together with ground sheets and fishing hooks as well as masks and snorkels for hunting lobsters. They are apparently much in demand there. Atlantia was much lighter going south!

The tsunami occurred whilst we were in Nukualofa. We were the only visiting yacht in the harbour at Faua at the time since the American boat next door had departed after dragging her anchor in the first currents. We were quite safe although the tide went out very quickly with a strong ebb current. It also receded more than usual. It was regrettable that due to the closure of the schools and businesses, because of the tsunami warning, that all the people and children went down to the waterfront to see if there was a big wave coming! It was fortunate it did not materialise. For us as well.

We went to the culture centre to see the museum and to watch them making tapa cloth. This is carried out by stripping the bark off mulberry trees and soaking and beating it so that it becomes soft and pliable. It is then stuck to another cloth, with the fibres at 90 degrees, with a tapioca glue, and finally painted. Large tapa cloths are given as wedding and christening presents and can be used as wall hangings, blankets, ceremonial carpets and table coverings. They were originally also used as clothing, although this is now only for ceremonial use. Tattooing is not so prevalent in Tongatapu as elsewhere in Polynesia, although it can be seen on both men and women there but over a much smaller area of the body.

We went to a Tongan feast at the cultural centre. Actors and actresses wore traditional clothing and performed ancient war dances and love dances. They have a kava ceremony where the elaborately prepared mildly intoxicating but non alcoholic drink made from the kava root is drunk in a special ceremony to all who wish to partake. They require a noble to head the ceremony and to take the first drink. Will was chosen and has thus joined the nobility of Tonga. He will be treated to deference of just below Royal status should he ever return to Tonga. It's tempting! The kava drink? It tastes a bit like milk with mud in it.

It was a most enjoyable evening and the 'feast' included suckling pig, cockles, octopus, chicken, squash, spinach, sweet potato, shrimps and crab. The finale in the dancing was the fire dance. There seemed to be a number of people off-stage brandishing fire extinguishers whilst the two young dancers jumped and whirled with their brands of fire, terrifying the audience in the front row; us.

If you know the Flanders and Swan songs, the word in 'Tongan' for 'no' is actually 'Ikai' sometimes pronounced 'K'. It doesn't seem to be the long word for 'no' used in the song . Confusing if you take K to mean OK! The Tongan maidens from the song are indeed 'lovely' but are generally very large and broad in the beam. They have beautiful smiles though.

It took us eight and a half days to reach New Zealand and the voyage was made much better by the presence of Kevin who took a third watch. He also caught a tuna on the voyage, which added to our fresh food supply for two days.

We also landed a flying fish in the scuppers one night, delicious for breakfast.

We hardly ever kept to the rhum line, sometimes having 30 knots of wind behind us and then 20 knots on the nose with a large and confused sea. As the wind dropped we had to use the motor to sail uphill. The waves were no more than 3 metres high but the wavelength was short at times, We were delighted to be joined by Albert the Royal Albatross who seemed to float effortlessly across the waves.

More of his friends, together with innumerable petrels and shearwaters joined him as we approached New Zealand. A strange fixed wing bird called us on the radio as we crossed the twelve mile limit. It was the coastguard. They were very pleasant and asked our arrival time and required various other details. It was a nice welcome to New Zealand. The various official bodies on shore were pleasant too. There was only one minor issue with our flamboyant tree pods, or shakers, as they are known in the Caribbean. Regrettably we had to part with them although we took the seeds out of one of them which had been painted and given to us as a gift. We were then allowed to keep it, minus the rattle.

The officials were charming and efficient, although we did hear one story about a boat that was required to be hauled out of the water to be x rayed. Apparently they have a new machine to go with the underwater camera they use to make sure we hadn't brought any nasties in from abroad on the hull. Generally the process of booking in was quite painless although there was a lot of writing involved. Our wrists are still sore a week later from the effort. We will write again to you about the wonders of New Zealand. Suffice it to say that it is just like the west coast and lowlands of Scotland in its scenery. It is also cold and rains a lot. 'Summer is a comin in' as they say, and apparently it is much nicer. We hope so although the people are delightful.

The South Seas with its warmth and hospitality was a wonderful place to visit. As time moves on it seems possible that the Polynesians will become a more coherent group, especially in the north as the French move away. It is to be hoped that they will maintain their traditional links with the Maoris in New Zealand. Unlike the French though the British seem to have been more influential on the Polynesian (Maori) way of life. In Tahiti the French are visitors, in Tonga there are really no visitors except for the transitory kind and just a few settlers who have brought more tourism to Vau Vau. So the people are very much Polynesian. Our first impressions of New Zealand however are that the British have had a substantial influence on the previous Polynesian way of life and especially with regard to property ownership. It must be said however that New Zealand appears far richer than the other areas in both material terms as well as culture, having two joined cultures to draw on. We hope to probe further into that as we tour the islands (when it gets warmer!!) We are returning to GB over Christmas and New Year so look forward to seeing you then. Hope you like the pics. ( There may be some of Kevin's in there as well)

Love Atlantia

Letter from Atlantia August 2009

Tahiti lives up to its reputation as being a friendly, lively (during the week) and expensive island. Fortunately it is also a beautiful island. Most buildings do not rise above six stories and these are dwarfed by the central volcano. Papeete, the capital, has one building of nine stories on the waterfront but they are all shorter in the streets behind. Most of the architecture is French 1960's to 19990's but with more taste than found in France from the same era.

Some of the trees are enormous and must have been here for centuries at the time of thatched buildings , cannibalism, and captain Cook. He first found his way here in the 1770's to chart the path of venus for the Royal Society.

Our anchorage at the start of our visit was on the west side, sheltered from the prevailing easterlies, although sometimes the wind would swing and strengthen. There is talk of 2009 being an El Nino year when the currents in the Pacific reverse and hurricanes in the Atlantic reduce. We certainly didn't find a current reversal in the early part of the year but there is no doubt that the winds recently have been variable, both in strength and direction. As we write the wind is blowing about 30 knots from the south east. Nearly a strong trade wind. Fortunately we are no longer at anchor but tied to yet another metal pontoon that constitutes part of the marina in the centre of Papeete.

We have had some interesting experiences here, mostly on the buses. Half of the bus fleet is known as Le Truck. The reason is obvious. They are trucks. Flat bed with a timber and perspex erection behind the cab. They really are very colourful and ethnic, but are slowly all being replaced with modern, comfortable, air conditioned auto buses. A shame in some ways, as long as you don't have to travel too far in Le Truck. Since the maximum distance Le truck goes out of Papeete is about six miles it is a shame they are being replaced.

We visited the museum. A bus ride, and a longish walk, from the Marina Taina to the south. It had a bower anchor belonging to Captain Cook there, lost when one of his ships nearly drifted onto the surrounding reef. There was a picture of another, half buried in coral, which is now solid stone. About five feet in 350 years.

The early communications with Europe were in the eighteenth century, but the King of Tahiti gave France the Government of his land, and title to a considerable area of it, in about 1880. This century sees France still governing the country, but there is much talk of increased independence. This is extremely unlikely in the near future since France injects a huge amount of cash into the area, and all for the sake of calling it part of France! (and testing bombs in the late 20th century). We were assured by a lovely Frenchman, Alain and his wife Claudie that E.U. money was not involved. If only the French tax payer knew what he was paying for! A refined and happy society who have not yet reaped the benefits of the world banking crisis or credit crunch. They know it is coming though by the considerable loss of yacht business and tourism this year.

The local fishing boats have the helmsman in his own seat up near the bow in splendid isolation. It is said that this is due to the dorado (mahi mahi / dolphin fish) that swim in the bow wave and are speared by the helmsman who has his harpoon handy next to him. This may be the case but it is also a good place to view the up coming reefs and coral heads which abound.

The local canoes are either the single man proas or the 6,8, or 10 man catamarans. They really enjoy their racing and one can see them at almost any time paddling inside and, sometimes during a serious race, outside, the surrounding reefs.

Another of our bus adventures was to the adjacent volcano of Tahiti Iti.

Tahiti Iti is separated from Tahiti Nui (the big place!) by an isthmus populated by a small town with a large cathedral and two supermarkets. The bus staging post is opposite the suspended electrical supply wire where the noddies of the island seem to congregate.

Just like swallows although they do not seem to be congregating to fly south. Just to laugh at all the poor would-be travellers waiting for the buses that nearly never come. We discovered that the last bus from the south of Tahiti Iti, which is where Robert Louis Stevenson stayed, leaves at midday. If you get stranded you have to hitch a ride. One of our friends actually hitched a ride in a police car due to the lack of timeous bus transport about 9 o'clock in the evening. A very weird system. Our companions on that trip were Colin and Milin from their Scottish Beneteau 56 called 'Nae Hassle' Not a completely true name since they had a bit of hassle with their rigger here replacing some rigging. A beautiful and comfortable boat though. They too are off to New Zealand.

One of the benefits of the anchorage at Marina Taina is the floating bar. A wonderful boat with a thatched roof that cruises around inviting other boats to tie up to it. The sand bar on the reef, where it sometimes anchors, provides a number of customers when they cease playing volleyball in two feet of water. No doubt they all take an early bath when they fall off their stools.

Also at the anchorage is the warren catamaran 'Taraipo', owned by John Jamieson who is on his second circumnavigation, this time with Nicole from Switzerland. John used to work at RYA Scotland as the racing coach, and took the Dragons at the Royal Forth Yacht Club for race training on a number of occasions in the 1990,s. We have had a number of very sociable encounters with them and hope to see them again on our travels.

One of the wonderful aspects of French Polynesia is that almost all the women wear flowers in their hair.

Margaret was given some flowers for her hair for her birthday which also surrounded her hat in the evening. They were very attractive but didn't last long even though we kept them in the fridge overnight.

We have been fortunate enough to be visited by Stephen and Susan for the last two weeks, and we have completed a whistle stop tour of some of the other Society Islands. In Moorea we saw the back drop of the mountains which feature in the film of 'South Pacific',

and watched the dancing and music making of the Polynesians at the Club Balihai.

In Tahaa we visited a turtle refuge,

a pearl farm,

and a vanilla farm,

all through the courtesy of the owner of the Hibiscus Hotel with its free moorings outside. Leo, for he is the owner, has purchased over 6000 turtles for his cure and release turtle refuge over the last ten years . They are all Pacific green turtles and are caught in fishing traps or nets around the islands. We gave him a donation and had an expensive meal at his hotel, which seemed the least we could do to assist his altruism.

We swam in a coral river which was only a few feet deep, next to the only hotel in Tahaa. Almost all the very expensive hotels in French Polynesia have their 'apartments' over the water. They consist of small self contained bedrooms with a swimming platform leading to the lagoon so the guests can have their early morning swim without straying away from their rooms. The bar and restaurant are sometimes in the open air although the majority of the communal areas are of large beautifully thatched structures whose frames are timber and whose chandeliers are composed of hanging droplets and circlets of fabulous shells.

Stephen was not startled this time when he saw the octopus. Apparently it was quite tame sitting amongst the vary coloured corals and sponges whilst the small and brightly coloured fish swam blithely around.

The sharks of course that were swimming around the outside of Bora Bora were a different matter. A number were about six feet long and only some were known man eaters. Fortunately the sharks and fish they feed on had just been fed by the tourist boats so fodder was plentiful without attacking humans.

We caught up with Keith and Ann in their sloop Ketchup 2 in Bora Bora. They are heading back to Australia after a nine year circumnavigation together with Brian and Margaret on Gipsy Days who have been on their boat for 14 years. Margaret even ran into a sleeping whale in the Indian Ocean some years ago in the middle of the night. They both got a shock, although no damage was done. Keith controls a radio net of about 15 boats every morning, broadcasting on the SSB radio their positions and weather conditions as they make their way to Tonga. Some are already there.

The whirlwind tour of the islands was great fun, although we intend to revisit two of them on our own on the way to Tonga, which we will reach by the end of September. We hope to see hump back whales again. We saw six on the penultimate day of our offsprings stay.

The last day of Stephen and Susan's voyage was a bit bumpy as we had 50 knots of wind and steep 3 metre waves for the 12 miles between Moorea and Tahiti, when we were sailing them back to catch their plane. We all arrived safely however and the plane was duly caught.

Our next voyage is via Bora Bora to the North Cook Islands, to American Western Samoa and then down to Tonga. From Tonga to New Zealand with our friend Kevin from New Jersey, and then to Scotland for Christmas. The last part will be by plane for the crew but Atlantia is booked into the Riverside Marina in Whangarei, so she should have lots of company there. Hope you enjoy the pics. The whole family had a hand in them this time.

Love Atlantia.

Letter from Atlantia July 2009

Dear All, It took five days to sail from Tahuata in the Marquesas to the Tuamotu Islands, south east. The Tuamotu Islands are the true atoll islands of the South Pacific. An atoll island starts out as a volcano poking its head above sea level and spewing forth flames, ash and such like. When it has finished doing that the warm seas around the volcano grow coral. There are many different types of coral but the basis is a small worm type of animal that secretes calcium carbonate to form a rock casing for itself. There are millions and millions of these animals that thrive in the tepid waters around the volcano. About ten million years later the volcano starts to sink into the earth’s crust and the coral grows in a ring around the mountain, always maintaining its top level around the level of the sea. Eventually the volcano sinks below the waves leaving the ring of coral still at sea level. The wind piles up a small amount of coral sand, and dry land is left for vegetation (coconut palms and hibiscus plants) to take root.

The volcano meanwhile sinks enough to form a warm and reasonably sheltered lagoon in the centre, sometimes up to 40 miles in diameter. The centre of this area, at present about 20 metres deep in most atolls, is the water that houses the pearl farms.

The Tuamotu Islands are still part of French Polynesia and stretch for over 1200 miles in a band about 200 miles wide from the Gambia Islands in the south east to Mataira in the north west. They all lie North of the Tropic of Capricorn and South of the Equator. They are in the area where the French tested their atomic bombs up to 1996, despite the fact that the atolls were almost all inhabited previously. We stayed well clear of the bombed area and made our landfall at Ahe, close to the North Western end. Ahe is a small atoll with only one way into the lagoon from the outside sea.

In the Tuamotus the entrance to the lagoon is called a “pass”. There are usually only one or perhaps two passes about 80 feet wide in an atoll so one can imagine how much water flows through it when the tide turns. Fortunately there is less than one foot of tide in the Tuamotus but nevertheless when the water piles up due to wind, rain and tide the current flowing can be quite severe, 8 knots in one case. We tried to time our entry through the pass at Ahe to coincide with slack water and this meant we had a leisurely sail to arrive at Ahe about 11-30 in the morning, in time for slack water in daylight. Since we didn’t have any tide tables we required to work out slack water from the positions of the sun, the moon, which had brightened our nights the whole voyage, and the amount of rain and wind from the last few days. You can imagine there was a large margin for error! We were however delighted to see one of the local cargo ships , which supply the islands from Tahiti, coming out of the pass just before we were due to enter.

This meant that we had probably managed our calculations correctly. In fact there was almost no current in the pass as we entered the lagoon. Very satisfactory. We proceeded to motor across the lagoon the five miles to the village of Tenukupara (approximately 14 degrees 30 minutes south, 146 degrees, 24 minutes west) in between coral heads, reefs and pearl farms. The channel is well marked with beacons and buoys and it was easy to follow these to a beautiful anchorage nearly surrounded by a coral reef and just off the concrete wharf (almost brand new) that was the focal point of the village. Fortunately we are back to the European system of buoyage, which means that red is on the port side when approaching port. How the Americans with their ‘red right returning’ managed to muddle their colours up so much, beggars belief. Perhaps their original navigation administrator was obtuse, or perhaps just colour blind.

We shared the anchorage with a New Zealand boat who had two crew from Edinburgh on board. Unfortunately the yacht (Semper Fidelis) only stayed one night and we had been recovering from our 5 night voyage before we spoke to them just as they were leaving.

It was nice to have the anchorage to ourselves however and we were happy exploring the little village knowing we were the only tourists about. We met an islander there, Edward, who had travelled extensively when he was younger and spoke very good English. He told us that in 1983 the island was inundated by a cyclone and that they were waist deep in water, in the middle of the ocean which covered the island, with not a tree left standing. They were eventually rescued, the water receded and the village was rebuilt. Fortunately coconut trees grow quite quickly in this region. The houses are almost all single storey constructed of concrete and look fairly solid. With global warming however there could well be no more South Sea Islands in the future, unless of course the coral can grow quickly as well.

We were visited by a number of people in boats selling cultured pearls. After a some negotiation we bought a number of very large pearls in exchange for a bottle of Panamanian rum and two miniatures of White and McKay whisky. Both sides seemed pleased with the bargain so we went on later to buy a pearl encrusted bracelet for Margaret and exchanged two half bottles of rum for some beautiful unmarked pearls with a pearl farmer.

We had sailed to the pearl farm in Dipper since the lagoon is not surrounded by an unbroken ring of land, rather a collection of small islands joined at almost all times by a damp stretch of coral and sand, except of course for the pass. The pearl farmer’s name was Quentin and he and his brother Maurice worked the farm to produce pearls, mostly for his mother to make into jewellery where she lived in the Society Islands, of which Tahiti is a part. Quentin came from Ahe and had been educated in New Zealand. He had some eighteen brothers and sisters. They had a French father who had sailed from France many years ago in a yacht, but not all siblings had the same mother!

Pearls are created in an oyster’s appendix which secretes mother of pearl around a humanly seeded base, usually made out of spherical shaped beads of fresh water mussel shell. The oyster can produce three sizes of pearl in as many years once it has reached the initial age of three years. The oyster is not killed during the seeding and pearl extraction process, although when the third pearl is created it is about 18mm diameter and the oyster shell is unable to contain it further. The pearls created in the Tahitian and Tuamotu Islands are the ‘black pearls’. Not named after the ship in ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ but because the type of oyster used has a black mantle. The pearl is usually a lustrous dark green, but can be blue, grey or even white.

Of course all transport around the atoll is by boat and we saw the famous fibreglass proas paddling by

as well as the work boats for the pearl farms. These were numerous, and crowded around the quayside, especially when the wharf was visited by the local trading boat, with its bags of onions, building materials and large barrels of diesel and petrol, for the generators and outboards.

We had an overnight sail to the largest of the Tuamotu islands, Rangiroa. The sea was a bit lumpy and the moon had disappeared. We had to slow the boat down to 5.5 knots so that we entered the east pass at dawn having been through the pass at Ahe the evening before, again at slack water. Our luck held and we entered the lagoon at Rangiroa through the east pass of Tiputa with a slight current and no waves. For the rest of our week’s stay at Rangiroa the ‘pass’ was ‘impassible’ for most of the time due to high winds.

Fortunately we were tucked nicely in the lagoon in the shelter of a small promontory, although we did have two anchors out for a few days.

The anchors we use are a Scottish 75 pound CQR on half inch chain and an American aluminium Fortress 37 anchor with a small amount of chain and a large amount of rope. Both are excellent, and, if we can rely on the force only coming from one direction, the American designed and built Fortress is almost second to none in sand or mud, and it is very light. 37 pounds.

We went diving at Rangiroa. The dive master and owner of Paradive, Oliver, was charming and spoke quite decent English. We practised our French a little as well and managed to teach the boat handler a few words of English too. The boat handler was a large congenial Polynesian. He had one leg slightly thinner than the other, apparently the result of a shark attack, although we were assured that the sharks were friendly around the pass. We went drift diving, which means we started at the seaward end of the Passe de Tiputa and took the current to the lagoon. There was a stop half way in a trench 60 feet down to see some very large fish and the sharks feeding on them. Oliver held Margaret’s hand the whole way. Whether this was to reassure her about the sharks or for some other nefarious purpose was never really clear, although some things are more difficult under water. Will considered that in the 5 knot current he was flying, and spread his arms and legs as if sky diving. It was just like flying, although there was no falling. A wonderful light and free sensation suspended above, and speeding along over, the ground.

The weather was very mixed at Rangiroa and at times we thought we might be in the West Coast of Scotland. Then the sun came out and we looked at the palm trees and the turquoise water and knew that wasn’t the case.

On the dive we met a generous French teacher who was diving with his son, on holiday from France.. We were invited to their house for drinks the following day and sailed ashore in Dipper. Jean-Francois spoke good English but his wife spoke none, however we made ourselves understood and thoroughly enjoyed the 15 year old whiskey that had been bought by Jean Loup, their son, on his way out from France. Spirits are not readily available in the Tuamotus although it was possible to pick up the odd box of wine at great expense.

We used the bicycles again here although Will’s seems to have developed a ‘go slow’. ‘More steam McPhail’ (from The Tales of Parahandy), is the shout as we pedal into the strong headwind. We used muscles that we didn’t know existed and Will’s back is only just recovering.

We left after all the other boats had moved on, making sure that the weather had truly calmed down.

Our destination was Tahiti, the capital of the Society Islands and indeed of all the islands in the central and eastern Pacific that comprise French Polynesia. It was two nights and a day of easy sailing with a full moon, again slowing ourselves down to arrive in daylight.

Papeete (pronounced Papy/ettee) is the capital city of Tahiti. It is really quite a large town with some beautiful trees and gardens. It was quite a relief to motor in through the pass in the outer reef to the first real civilisation for 3500 miles. Tahiti is an atoll but still has its volcano, so the coral reef around the island provides wonderful protection for yachts and all boats.

More about Tahiti in our next letter. It is a fascinating place 150 degrees west of London, and although we have been anchored nearly 3 weeks, including Margaret’s birthday, we have been busy revamping various areas of the boat which have been shaken about on our voyage here. We touch wood when we say everything is now nearly fixed on the boat. We have also been socialising! (Quite a lot!) Hope you like the pics.

Love Atlantia

Letter from Atlantia June 2009

The Australians call it the ‘Big Hop’. That is the 3000 odd miles between Galapagos and the French Marquesas Islands. You can imagine a kangaroo hopping over the water! Fortunately we were a little more sedate in Atlantia, but nevertheless it was quite hard work changing the sail plan at least once a day to ensure the most speed, that at the same time forgave us and the boat! The only time we hopped was when Will dropped a spanner on his foot!

Most of the Australians had left Galapagos before us and seemed to have a good trip until the end when some of them ran out of wind. We left on a beautiful sunny day with seventeen knots behind us. When we turned off the engine there was a knocking noise and we assumed we had picked up a net or a rope. We also assumed the rope cutter would do its job and the noise would soon cease. Not so. After 9 days of knocking, which nearly drove us mad, we put a screw driver in the shaft to stop the propeller turning, after all we wouldn’t need the engine for two weeks! We discovered later that the propeller had slipped slightly over the two nuts and pin holding it onto the shaft and was knocking against the inside of the rudder. It hadn’t done any harm to the rudder or propeller, just our nerves! The only explanation we could come up with for the displacement was that the sea lions had moved it!! Will had checked and cleaned the propeller about a week before leaving and there was no sign of movement, nor was there sign that a rope or net had been caught. We had watched the sea lions in Galapagos swim between the hull and the propeller at anchor and we can only assume one of them was too fat for the space! Since the key was still in place it is almost the only explanation! After an hours diving however in the Marquesas, Will managed an effective repair and we will replace the propeller for a feathering prop in New Zealand. (Other answers on a postcard please!).

The trip itself produced winds from 10 knots to 40 knots, all behind us. Most of the time it ranged between 15 and 24 knots but varied from North East to South East in direction. Since we were headed due west this suited us fine. One difference between coastal sailing and deep water sailing is the pattern of waves. Near the coast the waves invariably come from a set direction. In deep water the waves are only an adjunct of the swell and sit on top of an already heaving mass of water. Unfortunately there were occasions in 25 knots of wind from the east when swells came from the south east and north east as well! This made it a little uncomfortable at times and Will was even subject to a quick Mal de Mer on day 10, although we also put this down to a slight exhaustion. Luckily Margaret held the fort and had an extra turn on watch whilst Will recovered. This may also have been due to the knocking, stopped that day and the fact that Will had spent two hours fighting with the Genoa which had broken its foot attachment to the bowsprit and had to be tamed in the middle of the night. All part of the joys of deep water sailing 1000 miles from any other help.

We ate numerous fish for breakfast and tea. Breakfast was fairly simple, since we picked the flying fish off the deck at first light., where they had landed during the night. Also flying squid which were excellent to eat, calamari frite style. The flying fish were boned and scaled and fried with olive oil, salt and lime juice and served on a fried half hamburger roll. They were delicious but Margaret decided she didn’t like to eat the skin as well, which has some remarkably large scales on it.

.

We caught two other fish, both Dorado. One seven pounds and one twelve pounds. This was at the expense of one reel of line which disappeared before we could even reach the reel. Three lures and traces (hook line and sinkers), one broken reel and one broken rod! We might have been cheaper stocking up with dried fish before we left! Of course we wouldn’t have then had the satisfaction of catching and eating our own fish. We have seen other boats fishing gear which seems far superior to ours for the catching job in hand. It composes of a large wooden reel (home made) attached to a strong point near mid ships. 200 metres of 100kg mono filament line. A large weight. A wire trace with a large stainless steel hook on which they put anything handy; squid, flying fish, last nights stew etc. We know it is effective and it seems much more workmanlike than messing about with rods and reels. Again we would miss the sport! We wonder sometimes, when the object is survival! The end product. Delicious.

The voyage was generally very successful, but every bolt on the engine and windlass had to be tightened after the continuous rolling, heaving and pitching that Atlantia was subject to. When the engine was first started there were leaks everywhere, and the windless slipped its clutch. We were very fortunate at the end of our voyage to have assistance from our fellow sailors who really were very helpful. Derek from Kalida helped us with the anchor windlass, engine, reinstating the forestay and generally finding our feet on land. We even found a professional (rather expensive) sail maker who patched up the Genoa. He was also on a boat. Will wire spliced the topping lift back together and we had help from two Dutchmen Florian and Argen (A.J.) in putting it back in the mast. Will spent a successful hour diving on the propeller and general help and bonhomie was given by Gordon and Anne on Equinox who were also in the Fatu Hiva anchorage.

It was good to see them again. Scotland going around the world! The main problem with the short handed long passages is that there is seldom time to mend everything at the same time as sailing the boat. This is especially true when the wind is blowing over 20 knots and the seas are high and rolling. We counted our blessings that there was only one leak, above a bunk, but that all the bedding was dry and we were fairly well rested. We will try and keep our passages a bit shorter in future.

Milestones on our voyage (?) Firstly Will reached the age of 60. He thinks he is younger now than when he retired from business five years ago! He is certainly thinner! Secondly we are now over a third of the way round the world. We suspect the last 2/3rds will be quicker than the first third! Thirdly we reached a 180 miles in one day under sail, before the Genoa fitting parted, and fourthly we thought 22 days for 3060 miles for two of us was quite creditable.

Robert Louis Stephenson loved the Marquesas. He was reminded of the mountains of Scotland by the craggy peaks and steep cliffs and also by the people.

He suggested that the Polynesians and the Scots were alike in that they were both oppressed by conquerors. Polynesia by the French and Scotland by the English. This maybe true but I have not seen too many Scotsmen covered from head to toe in tattoos, and looking like Sumo wrestlers.

Some of the men are enormous and look particularly fierce and warlike. As a restaurateur said to Will, ‘From Cannibalism to Internet in two hundred years!’ The internet here is a little behind the times, and no sooner has one managed to nearly finish writing the e-mail, than they log you off. Very frustrating, although we think we have found a way of circumventing their antiquated system. Regrettably- the text message system for mobile phones is non existent.

All the inhabitants of French Polynesia look fierce, men and women, until they smile. The whole world seems to light up then, and the children are extremely friendly as well, always wanting us to say something in English. It is very refreshing when we think back to the rather pent up introspective society we left in 2004. We try to practice our very imperfect school French which is certainly better than our Spanish, but in the Marquesas the inhabitants would rather speak English, either to practice it or because they don’t like the French. There were very few French people on the islands we visited. Apparently at one time, the population of Polynesian Marquesans was 600,000 in all the islands. That was early in the 19th Century when they were all fighting and eating each other. Then the French missionaries came and the population was decimated by disease until at the end of the nineteenth Century there were only about 6000 left. It is still much the same today. Some of the churches however, although basic are certainly charming, and they have internet!

The Marquesans still celebrate their warlike past with their tattoos, their artwork and the beautiful carving on the warlike clubs, spears and paddles. Their religion also included the tikis, smallish stone statues carved all over the islands.

Thor Hyadal lived here for a while and tried to make various assumptions concerning the migration of Polynesians especially to Easter Island.. This was prior to his voyages. Although we have seen similar but smaller statues to those on Easter Island in Chile, we have never seen such dramatic ones as the natural (and probably man assisted) ones at the Bay of Virgins on Fatu Hiva. This bay is guarded by what were once called Phalluses )you only need an extra ‘I’ in phallus to make a virgin, in French. If you look at them in a certain light it is our belief that you will see very large Tiki. Larger even than Easter Island’s. Is this where it all began? We may be sailors and Anthropologists but certainly not linguists, although we get by.

Atuona in Hiva Oa is the town of Administration of the Southern Marquesas. The Gendarme was particularly pleasant to us when we booked in. Presumably because, being members of the EEC we didn’t have to give him a 2000 euro bond which is required for Americans, Australians, and Canadians. This has always caused friction and it is certainly a relief not to have to cough up that amount of money, even if it is a temporary loan to the government. Or perhaps particularly because it is a loan to the government! We are starting to find a better class of immigration/customs official on our travels west. We will try to come to a conclusion as to why, if we see a pattern emerging.

Gauguin, the enfant terrible of the French art establishment at the end of the nineteenth Century, is buried here in Hiva Oa. There is an excellent museum dedicated to his work on the site of his house, and there are replicas of his pictures and even a replica of him!

He was a small feisty looking man who took on the art establishment of Paris and won. At least he liberated art in France from the formal stuffy stance it had taken, which allowed the flourishing of the impressionists and artists following in the 20th Century. He did like to paint semi naked Polynesian women however, in his ‘playhouse’!

We visited his grave up a very steep hill.

The bikes which we carry with us on the boat were good on the way back

and we had an excellent, if expensive, Chinese lunch en route.

There was a large problem with swell at the anchorage close to Atuona. Although the proas (Polynesian outrigger canoes)

were practicing on the water every day, we decided to move when we noticed a surfer riding the waves into the shore behind us. We moved to the beautiful island of Tahuata with our newly mended starter motor, which had been kindly fixed by some young Americans who had been lifeguards at Long Beach California. Their boat is called Banyan, although it doesn’t look like a tree!

Tahuata is steep and rugged but has two very good anchorages We stayed at both of them and also at a rather difficult anchorage at Baie Vaitahu where we stopped to look at the church and to go shopping.

The first bay had a lovely beach and wild forest behind.

We were fortunate enough to pick wild bananas, lemons and papaya from the trees along the waterside and many of our friends were also given mangoes, limes and pamplemousse, a very large sweet grapefruit.

Our last anchorage in the Marquesas was on the same island but at Baie Hanatefau near the village of Hapatoni.. We were delighted by a fantastic display of dolphins swimming around the boat,

and some very good snorkeling, with very colourful fishes and even the odd large reef shark, who are much more afraid of us than we are of them!

We visited Hapatoni where the warlike islanders built a sacred road about three hundred years ago. It is well put together. We could imagine the warriors taking their hapless victims up the road to the sacred area where they were decapitated and then eaten. The sacred place is now marked with a cross and the road at the top has now crumbled away.

We were shown beautiful local wood and bone ( not human) carvings, mostly on replicas of war spears, clubs and paddles, and also some spears made from the horns of sail fish. Amongst the war replicas were a walking stick and a sensitively carved manta ray as table decoration. We bought them as souvenirs.

We set sail reluctantly from Tahuata to make the five day voyage south to the Tuamotus, the legendary south sea islands and Atolls in the Pacific, with their palm trees and pearl farms. We had a fairly peaceful voyage and nothing went wrong at all! We think we had probably had our fill of difficulties by then, and we were also a lot more gentle on the boat.

More about the Tuamotus in our next letter

Love ATLANTIA